b'SAIAWHAT WE WANTED WAS AN AT-A-GLANCE TOOL. WE WANTED THE READER TO BE ABLE TO QUICKLY DETERMINE WHAT THE DIFFERENCES ARE FROM REGION TO REGION FOR EACH OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SCAFFOLD AND ACCESS EQUIPMENT.-Rick McKinlay, PMP, Chair of the SAIA Canadian CouncilWhat we wanted was an at-a-glance tool, McKinlay says. WeMcKinlay says the council plans on adding regulatory wanted the reader to be able to quickly determine what theinformation from the remaining regions (Prince Edward Island, differences are from region to region for each of the differentNewfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories and types of scaffold and access equipment. Nunavut), and the councils goal is to debut the first draft of the Rather than copying and pasting the regulations verbatim, thegap analysis document at the 2023 SAIA Annual Convention & teams task has been rewriting and boiling the information downExposition in Vancouver in October.to show only the key requirements for each type of scaffold andAVOIDING CONFUSION AND PENALTIESaccess equipment. With globalization encouraging companies to broaden STRAIGHTFORWARD LANGUAGE their market base beyond their home cities and regions, the Regurgitating the standards as written in the referencedifferences in scaffold and access standards across Canada can documents would continue the original problem of anbecome problematic.overabundance of language and information in the tool. InIt is often very confusing for Canadian companies when addition, the team rewrites the information from the referenceconsidering broadening their market base, McKinlay says.sources to cut down on verbiage that can come across as hard-to-process legalese. McKinlay and his SAIA Canadian Council Co-Chair The way regulations are written, you have to be a regulator inChristopher Jones gave a very concrete example of how order to really understand them, McKinlay says. regulations in separate provinces can differ severelyand the costs that can accompany regulation infractions.Over the past two-plus years, McKinlay says the research teamIf Jones, who is the general manager of the British Columbia-that populates the tool has grown to 12-14 regional experts whobased scaffold and access equipment supplier Canada Scaffold, hail from Halifax to Vancouver and are affiliated with both thewanted to set up operations in Toronto (approximately 2500 SAIA and the AAC. miles east in Ontario) to take advantage of the high-rise, high-Currently, the gap analysis features standards from eightdensity residential construction boom, he would need to do a Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan,lot of research on the differences between his current market Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. and his new one.18THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE ACCESS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA'