At their October 12, 2011 meeting, the Board of Directors approved the adoption of a new policy regarding occupational health and safety injunctions: Policy D12 198 1.

Background

An order is WorkSafeBC’s primary tool to achieve compliance with health and safety requirements. An injunction is a secondary tool to achieve compliance where the BC Supreme Court (the “Court”), on application from WorkSafeBC, can order a party to comply. An injunction is an effective tool to achieve compliance with health and safety requirements when other measures are unsuccessful.
Section 198 of the Workers Compensation Act provides that the Court can grant an injunction ordering a person to comply with occupational health and safety requirements. WorkSafeBC needs to satisfy the Court that there are reasonable grounds to believe that a person has not complied or is likely not to comply with health and safety requirements or orders.
The Court can grant an injunction against an individual or a corporation. Failure to comply with the injunction could result in being found to be in contempt of court. The Court may address contempt in a number of ways including fines, or in the case of an individual, even imprisonment.

The Policy

The policy provides guidance to WorkSafeBC on determining when to consider an injunction and the appropriateness of pursuing an injunction.
The proposed policy was released for public consultation from June 1 to September 16, 2011.
The policy was effective on December 1, 2011.