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New first aid regulations roll out across B.C.

Published on: January 09, 2025

At the west end of Burnaby Lake, Ventana Construction is building its largest project to date — a $234-million recreation facility complete with a deluxe aquatic centre and an NHL-sized arena. In East Vancouver, the company is constructing a distinctive, mass-timber, 10-storey landmark with an elaborate honeycomb design.

By Susan Kerschbaumer

Ventana has more than 250 employees and a steady stream of similarly large, complex projects on the go. Keeping things running smoothly and safely is a constant challenge, says Justin Leisle, the company’s director of health, safety, environment, and quality. And it’s this high degree of challenge that makes Ventana’s dedication to comply with B.C.’s new first aid regulatory changes so admirable — and so essential.

Employers of all types and sizes are affected

The changes have the greatest impact on higher-risk, less-accessible, and more-remote workplaces. But employers across the province — from the smallest and simplest to the biggest and most multifaceted — are bound by the amendments to Part 3 of B.C.’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulation that came into effect on November 1, 2024.

Under the revised Regulation, first aid certification levels and first aid kit contents have been aligned with CSA standards. In addition, emergency transportation requirements have changed, written first aid assessments must be completed, and annual drills are mandatory.

In written first aid assessments, employers need to look at four factors to determine the minimum levels of first aid equipment, supplies, facilities, and services required on a worksite. These factors include the number of workers per shift, the hazard rating, the remoteness of the workplace, and whether it can be safely accessed by an ambulance from BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS).

Planning ahead for compliance

Since the amendments were approved in April 2023, employers across sectors and throughout B.C. have been reviewing their first aid plans. They’ve also been making the adjustments needed to ensure they comply and their workers receive prompt and appropriate first aid treatment when they need it.

The new requirements have encouraged companies to involve workers and think ahead in a way that they perhaps didn’t before. For example, Eco Heavy Duty Repairs safety manager Lyle Nesbitt contacted WorkSafeBC early on to request an officer tour the workplace and discuss any health and safety issues.

Nesbitt recognized that the revised Regulation would require substantial adjustments to the company’s operations. Eco’s workers take part in high-risk activities such as welding, using cranes, working over water, and being exposed to extreme weather. In addition, the changes to the Regulation coincided with the firm’s sudden expansion into shipbuilding. Ensuring that Eco’s ramped-up operation complied meant expanding their safety program to account for the increase in the size of their workforce.

“Eco Heavy Duty Repairs already had a stellar safety program,” says WorkSafeBC occupational safety officer M. Peters. “And they’ve been commendably proactive in aligning with the updates.”

Focusing on training

At Ventana, getting staff adequately trained to meet the new requirements has been “the costliest thing we’ve done” to comply with the revised Regulation, says Leisle. As a prime contractor, Ventana is only required to coordinate the first aid efforts of the various trades on their jobsites. But the company goes beyond this basic responsibility.

Upgrading their health and safety team from “OFA 2” to “Advanced” meant double the amount of training previously required. Upgrading their field supervisors from “OFA 1” to “Intermediate” with a transportation endorsement meant triple.

“Training used to be one day every three years for supervisors and backup first aid attendants,” Leisle says. “Now it’s three days every three years.”

Leisle says that while the extra training can be a hard sell for some, many of Ventana’s junior employees have been especially eager to participate as there is now a need for more first aid attendants to meet the minimum requirements.

To meet a new requirement calling for multiple first aid attendants on jobsites with more than 200 workers, Ventana had to cross-train additional people. This meant creating more blended positions in which workers take on the role of first aid attendant in addition to their usual job.

“In some cases, we’ll need three attendants where historically we just needed one,” Leisle says. Nevertheless, he adds that the amendment to require multiple first aid attendants makes sense. “If you’ve got a big site with more people and more exposure to risk and something does happen, one person can’t do it all.”

Addressing the complexities of remote and less-accessible sites

Beyond the logistics of getting everyone trained, many employers — like those whose worksites are located on roads inaccessible by BCEHS ambulance — have grappled with new requirements related to emergency transportation. When workers need medical care, employers are responsible for transporting them to an accessible location for pickup by a BCEHS ambulance.

Given that some worksites vary in size from one day to the next, first aid planning can be especially complex. Employers may need to do an assessment each time they start work at a new jobsite and review the assessment when conditions at the worksite change.

At Seabridge Gold’s Kerr-Sulphurets-Mitchell Project, KSM Mining faces particularly tricky scenarios. Located in northwestern B.C., the remote project has a well-trained emergency response team on site, with an advanced care paramedic and a medical clinic. But when a worker needs off-site care, it’s 133 kilometres by road to the nearest hospital.

As the November deadline for the first aid changes approached, KSM health and safety manager Robbie Merrill developed a drill plan and held regular exercises covering a range of possible scenarios. What would they do if the highway was closed due to a wildfire? How would they deal with a traumatic bleed or a “person down”? How could they reconfigure a helicopter to fit a stretcher? These drills helped everyone feel more comfortable by proving that whatever the situation, they could get an injured worker to medical care quickly and efficiently, Merrill says.

For Ventana, adhering to the amendments that related to less-accessible workplaces meant finding innovative ways to reach injured workers and get them safely to places accessible by ambulance personnel. The construction industry is collaboratively working together to adapt to the new regulations through the BCCSA’s Prime Contractor’s Technical Advisory Committee (PCTAC) by sharing their ideas and their own company resources. As committee members, employers all agree that safety is not a trade secret.

Changing for the better

While the new requirements have meant significant planning, training, and expense — particularly for remote, less-accessible, and high-risk workplaces — the value they bring is immense, says WorkSafeBC senior prevention advisor Diana Janke.

“For nearly 20 years, first aid requirements in B.C. have remained largely unchanged,” Janke says. “But over that time, there has been a great deal of learning, significant improvements in first aid training and equipment, and new standards from the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). These amendments serve to strengthen the requirements and harmonize occupational first aid in B.C. with the CSA benchmarks used across Canada. They’ll improve first aid throughout the province and help keep our workers safe.”

For employers with operations outside the province, B.C.’s alignment with CSA standards can make it easier to coordinate their first aid efforts. Most importantly, the adjusted training requirements will make operations safer, Ventana’s Leisle says.

“In my time, it’s the biggest, most wide-sweeping regulatory change I’ve seen,” he says. “It may seem like a pain, but overall it’s a positive change.”

The amended Regulation affects businesses large and small in every sector across the province, Leisle adds. “So, if you’re not paying attention, you need to be.”

For more information

Resources are available to support employers, including videos, other useful tools, and information on everything from what types of vehicles can be used for emergency transport to how to account for hospital closures.

Visit our First aid requirements webpage to access related resources.

Summary of first aid amendments

This information originally appeared in the Winter 2024 issue of WorkSafe Magazine. To read more or to subscribe, visit WorkSafe Magazine.

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