This edition of the Prevention Manual reflects the following updates.

Bill 9 Related Changes to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Policies

Bill 9 received Royal Assent on May 14 and contains a number of changes to Part 3 of the Workers Compensation Act (Act).

The goal of the changes is to improve workplace health and safety and strengthen the tools that WorkSafeBC uses to enforce the Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.

To support the changes, the Board of Directors approved the creation of two new interim OHS policies regarding employer incident investigations, as well as interim changes to the stop work orders policy. The policies and amendments apply to incidents that occur between May 27, 2015 and December 31, 2015 and will be replaced by final policies following public consultation.

WorkSafeBC also made housekeeping changes to other OHS policies to reflect the Act changes. Details of all the changes are set out below.

Interim Incident Investigation Policies (D10-175-1 and D10-176-1)

Bill 9 changed the requirements for employer incident investigations. The major changes are that an employer must undertake a preliminary investigation within 48 hours of the incident and submit a full investigation report to WorkSafeBC within 30 days of an incident. WorkSafeBC may grant an extension for the full investigation report. The investigation reports must be prepared as set out by policy.

The interim policies D10-175-1 (Preliminary Investigations) and D10-176-1 (Full Investigations) identify the required content for each report and provide additional guidance for each.

Interim Stop Work Orders Policy (D12-191-1)

Bill 9 expanded the criteria and lowered the threshold for issuing stop work orders. The changes also allow WorkSafeBC to stop work or prevent work from starting at multiple locations for an employer ("stop operations") if similar unsafe conditions are likely to exist at the other locations.

The interim Stop Work Orders policy provides additional guidance regarding the changed stop work order provisions.

Housekeeping Changes

WorkSafeBC has made housekeeping changes to various policies to reflect the addition of the two new incident investigation policies and changes to the wording of the Act for OHS Penalties and OHS Injunctions. Housekeeping changes do not change the substance of the policy. The history section at the end of each policy identifies the changes made.