A proposed new regulation under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) would introduce training, inspection, reporting and other due diligence requirements for rope access systems that enable working at heights in window washing, construction and farming operations. These new rules would be established in a stand-alone regulation that applies across the three sectors, superseding existing authorization in the OHSA’s window washing regulation and opening the way to permit rope access systems on construction and farming sites.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development is currently inviting comments on the proposed requirements, which would be the first specific references to rope access procedures in an OHSA regulation. This would align with health and safety legislation in other Canadian provinces and respond to industry demand. Participants in an earlier Ministry consultation, conducted in 2024, largely categorized rope access as a beneficial option, while skilled trades endorsed a certification approach that would allow them to work in multiple jurisdictions.

“Rope access can be used to gain access to tall structures or difficult-to-reach or tight spaces where traditional methods of access are either not practical or not safe,” states the consultation paper posted on the Ontario government’s regulatory registry. “Proper training and adherence to established industry standards would help to ensure that rope access is used safely as a method for workers to access and complete tasks at height without being exposed to a fall.”

As proposed, workers and their on-site supervisors would have to be certified through one of two international associations — either the Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA) or the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians (SPRAT) — before they could use rope access systems to perform tasks at heights. Employers would be responsible for ensuring that:

• all such workers are properly qualified;
• all rope and anchor systems are regularly inspected and comply with safety standards;
• prescribed measures are in place to safeguard the integrity of ropes and anchors;
• emergency contingencies are mapped out and trained rescuers are on-site whenever rope access work occurs; and
• reporting and notifications to the Ministry are completed as required.

Employers would be required to notify the Ministry at least 24 hours before any tasks involving rope access are conducted. This is to be conveyed electronically and include: the company name; the name and contact number of the on-site supervisor for the rope access work; the work site address; start-date and expected duration; and number of workers slated to be involved. That information would have to be updated if it changes over the course of the work.

Documentation requirements would include: risk assessments to identify potential hazards workers could encounter; written emergency rescue procedures; and site-specific work plans for performing and supporting rope access work. The latter would have prescribed components related to job functions and equipment safety, which employers/supervisors would need to communicate to workers and verify their understanding of the content.

Workers would be required to keep a personal log to record the tasks they have performed and the time they have spent working at heights via a rope access system. Supervisors would have to verify and sign off on these entries, but the logs would be workers’ personal property, serving as a record of accumulated experience as they move from jobsite to jobsite.

The Ministry is accepting feedback on the proposed regulation until Aug. 21, 2026. Respondents are asked to outline the financial impacts and/or benefits they foresee from implementing the proposed requirements and to identify any missing elements that they would like to see added.

The proposed regulation would not apply to arborists, emergency responders or instructors and guides for mountaineering and recreational climbing since other legislation already captures rope access systems used in those scenarios.