Canadian Safety Reporter

©2015 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-7798-2810-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher (Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business). Canadian Safety Reporter is part of the Canadian HR Reporter group of publications: • Canadian HR Reporter — www.hrreporter.com • Canadian Occupational Safety magazine — www.cos-mag.com • Canadian Payroll Reporter — www.payroll-reporter.com • Canadian Employment Law Today — www.employmentlawtoday.com • Canadian Labour Reporter — www.labour-reporter.com See carswell.com for information Safety Reporter Canadian www.safetyreporter.com Published 12 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Subscription rate: $129 per year Customer Service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 E-mail: carswell.customerrelations @thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 3V4 Director, Carswell Media Karen Lorimer Publisher John Hobel Associate Publisher/Managing Editor Todd Humber Lead Editor Sarah Dobson Assistant Editor Mallory Hendry (On Leave) Assistant Editor Anastasiya Jogal Contributing Editors Liz Foster Sabrina Nanji Liz Bernier Jeffrey R. Smith Marketing Manager Mohammad Ali mm.ali@thomsonreuters.com (416) 609-5866 Circulation Co-ordinator Keith Fulford keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9585 CSR | July 2015 | News Employers must conduct investigation within 48 hours Under the new legislation, WorkSafeBC investigators will have the authority to shutter un- safe workplaces with stop-work orders. In the case of "egregious, willful and repeat offenders," the courts will be able to bar offend- ers from the industry altogether, according to the ministry. As well, employers will be required to conduct an inves- tigation within 48 hours of a significant incident and to take necessary actions to prevent a similar incident from occurring while a full investigation is be- ing conducted. A provision that establishes compliance agree- ments is scheduled to come into effect later this fall, and OHS citations for employers will be introduced in early 2016. The changes come as a direct response to a 200-page report from Gord Macatee, a special WorkSafeBC adviser tasked with reviewing the province's worker safety system last sum- mer. He made 43 recommenda- tions, all of which were accepted by government, 12 of which required the direct legislative changes implemented via Bill 9. "The recommendations made in the action plan are intended to enable WorkSafeBC to deal with health and safety risks in the workplace earlier and more firmly," Macatee said when the legislation was introduced. The report comes on the heels of two deadly sawmill blasts in the province that killed four workers and injured many others. "In the wake of the tragedies at Babine and at Lakeland (saw- mills), changes needed to be made, and our government and WorkSafeBC accepted all 43 recommendations in the Ma- catee report to ensure we have a world-class inspection and investigations regime, and that British Columbians have safe workplaces," Bond said. Organized labour wary But Bill 9 falls short, according to labour groups such as the British Columbia Federation of Labour. Aaron Ekman, the federa- tion's secretary-treasurer, said the legislation should focus on employers. As one concern, he cited joint health and safety committees, and how their role could change. Modifying the re- lationship between worker and management, when it comes to safety, is particularly unsettling. Ekman cited the fatal Lakeland explosion in Prince George, B.C., as one example, as many employees had informed man- agement about a potential risk and the possibility a layer of dust had accumulated. "After an incident investiga- tion is conducted by the em- ployer, there's no requirement to go back to the joint occupational health and safety committee with that report until a much later stage. This is just mind- boggling," Ekman said. "It's ex- actly the kind of thing that allows concerns that come off the shop floor — raised by employees — to then be acted upon by the em- ployer." The notion of ticketing work- ers has also raised eyebrows. Ek- man maintains the onus should be on the employer to ensure a safe workplace and that employ- ees comply with site-specific policies. "Employers already have the ability to discipline employees if they're not following any kind of regulation or the expectations or policies of the employer, so why would you add to that an addi- tional fine? It's redundant," Ek- man explained. Also, Bill 9's cornerstone is en- forcement, with little emphasis on preventative measures, such as training or education, he said. "When you look at why work- ers get injured or killed, it's be- cause of lack of training, lack of proper safety equipment being provided for them by the em- ployer — and also then receiv- ing direction from employers to do work that's not safe, and then having the courage to challenge that," he said. "So to add an additional fi- nancial penalty in that kind of context, where there's an inher- ent power imbalance between employers and workers, is just redundant, and it's not going to address the problem at all." The labour ministry said Ma- catee's mandate was to focus on areas that needed attention, such as enforcement, but added that one recommendation calls for WorkSafeBC to continue to put a priority on education and proactive compliance. B.C.'s Bill 9 < pg. 1 10 percentage points, up to 100 per cent. Vanderbyl says she expects if an employer is going to get a su- per-assessment, the charge will come shortly after the employer files its annual payroll return at the end of February each year. Meeting the threshold A super-assessment in the Yu- kon would remain in effect un- til the employer's claims costs are below the super-assessment threshold or the board considers the employer's injury prevention practices and procedures to be adequate. This means the employer must meet the minimum re- quirements of the territory's oc- cupational health and safety and workers' compensation legisla- tion, be free of penalties, fines or prosecutions pending against it at the time the board reconsid- ers the super-assessment and it must pass a safety management system review. If the employer ends up back on the super-assessment list, the board will levy the charge at the level the employer was last at. "You don't go back to zero, so there is always a risk for em- ployers who have been super- assessed," says Vanderbyl. "That is pretty good motiva- tion and people will get the pic- ture that we're not out there to grab your money — we're out there to save lives and to pre- vent disability because that's our mandate." 'Pretty good motivation' Yukon < pg. 8

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