Major Change in Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Scene Disturbance Law

Written By Jennifer Miller, Simon Foxcroft, Beth Jonah and Jordan Murray

In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment in April 2025, the Government of Alberta issued a Director Order that significantly altered the legal landscape concerning work site incident scene disturbances. In essence, we have returned to the law as originally written.

Background

On November 26, 2021, the Government of Alberta issued a Director Order that created new exceptions to the general prohibition against disturbing the scene of certain work site incidents requiring reporting under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHS Act). Provided that (1) no injury or illness occurred and (2) there were no contrary directions from an officer, the 2021 Director Order allowed a person to disturb the scene of:

• an unplanned or uncontrolled explosion, fire, or flood that has the potential of causing a serious injury or illness;
• the collapse or upset of a crane, derrick, or hoist; and
• the collapse or failure of any component of a building or structure necessary for the structural integrity of the building or structure.

However, on April 15, 2025, these exceptions ceased to be in force. The Government of Alberta’s new Director Order revoked the 2021 Director Order and reinstated the law as it was originally written in section 33 of the OHS Act.

Given these recent changes, now is an ideal time to remind your workforce of the legal prohibitions regarding scene disturbances in Alberta.

Current State of the Law (Section 33 of the OHS Act)

Unless certain conditions exist, parties on work sites must not disturb the scene of a serious incident, illness, or injury required to be reported under section 33(1) of the OHS Act. Section 33(2) of the OHS Act specifies that the injuries, illnesses and incidents that must be reported under section 33(1) of the OHS Act are as follows:

• an injury, illness, or incident that results in the death of a worker;
• an injury, illness, or incident in which there is reason to believe the worker has been or will be admitted to a hospital beyond treatment in an emergency room or urgent care facility;
• an unplanned or uncontrolled explosion, fire, or flood that causes a serious injury or illness or that has the potential of causing a serious injury or illness;
• the collapse or upset of a crane, derrick, or hoist; and
• the collapse or failure of any component of a building or structure necessary for the structural integrity of the building or structure.

Where a serious incident, illness, or injury required to be reported under section 33(1) of the OHS Act does occur, a person may only disturb the scene if one or more of the conditions enumerated in section 33(9) of the OHS Act are met:

33(9)         Except as otherwise directed by a Director, an occupational health and safety officer or a police officer, a person shall not disturb or conduct work at the scene of an injury, illness or incident required to be reported under subsection (1), including the immediate area where the injury, illness or incident occurred, or alter, move or remove equipment, documents or other information that may be related to the injury, illness or incident, except insofar as is necessary in:

1. attending to persons that are ill, injured, or killed,
2. preventing further injuries, illnesses, or incidents, and
3. protecting property that is endangered as a result of the injury, illness, or incident.

It is important to note how broadly section 33(9) of the OHS Act is drafted. Employees should be made aware of these expansive restrictions.

Failing to abide by these scene preservation requirements can have significant consequences for businesses and their workers. For further details, the Government of Alberta has updated its OHS Bulletin LI016: Incident reporting and investigation to reflect these recent changes to the law on work site incident scene disturbances.

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