WorkSafeBC inspections are performed by prevention officers. Prevention officers are either safety officers or hygiene officers. In either case, the officers inspect to determine if the employer is in compliance with the Workers Compensation Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, and associated policies.
During the inspection, the officer will ask to be shown around the worksite, and may ask to be shown specific locations, and to see documents. You are required to assist the officer during the inspection. However, if at any point you are advised by a WorkSafeBC officer that they are conducting an “investigation” or that any evidence gathered may be used in court, advise the officer that you would like to speak to a lawyer before you do anything else. Contact us.
Taking a proactive approach to safety and compliance is the best way to be prepared for an inspection. This includes:
Further, employers should know where WorkSafeBC will be focusing their inspections. WorkSafeBC has inspectional initiatives that focus on certain industries and specific violations within that industry. These initiatives are often a part of WorkSafeBC’s “high risk strategies”, which WorkSafeBC develops in each of the following sectors:
In addition to the high risk strategies, WorkSafeBC develops “industry initiatives” each year. Where an employer should focus and prepare will depend on which of the above strategies or initiatives applies.
The most common orders vary by industry. For example, in residential construction, the most common violation orders and penalties are for failure to comply with “fall protection” requirements. This is particularly true in the roofing sector. In contrast, in manufacturing, one of the most common violations is for failure to “lockout” equipment before work is performed on that equipment. Knowing the most common orders for your industry can help you identify where you may want to focus to prevent similar orders; it also tells you where WorkSafeBC officers are focusing.
Across all industries, however, WorkSafeBC officers often issue violation orders for the “general duty” sections under the Workers Compensation Act. For employers, this means section 21 (formerly section 115) of the Act, which imposes broad obligations on employers to ensure the health and safety of workers, including another employer’s workers. These orders are problematic, as they can be written for dramatically different underlying issues, but may be counted as “repeat” violations or penalties.
After an inspection, the WorkSafeBC officer will send you an “inspection report”. That inspection report will often have one or more orders in it. Those orders will require you to take steps to comply. The officer will also ask you to submit a “notice of compliance” by a certain date. In that notice of compliance, you will need to explain what you have done to comply with the orders.
During this time, the WorkSafeBC officer may also be considering issuing a penalty for the violation(s). Do not assume that just because the officer has accepted your steps to comply that he or she is not going to issue a penalty.
If you receive an order or a penalty, you have a right to request a review. That request must be submitted to WorkSafeBC within 45 days.
Are you facing a WorkSafeBC order or penalty? Contact us.
WorkSafeBC may issue a fine, usually referred to as an "administrative penalty", against an employer any time there is a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation or the health and safety provisions of the Workers Compensation Act, or there is non-compliance with an order of a WorkSafeBC officer.
WorkSafeBC officers are required to consider a penalty in certain circumstances. The most common circumstances include:
An incident will be “high risk” either because it falls into one of six pre-determined violations, or because it meets certain criteria.
WorkSafeBC has deemed the following violations to be “high risk violations”:
A violation not on the above list may still be considered to be high risk, if it meets certain criteria. The high risk criteria involve assessing both the likelihood of a worker injury or illness occurring from the violation and likely seriousness of the resulting injury or illness.
A repeat violation is any violation of the same or similar section by the same employer. The clearest example of a repeat violation is when an employer is cited for having violated the exact same section of the Regulation. However, WorkSafeBC may also consider an employer to have committed a repeat violation even if a different section was cited as being violated. WorkSafeBC may do so when the underlying incidents were sufficiently similar.
Before WorkSafeBC issues you a fine/penalty, an officer will send you a “request for due diligence”. It is important to carefully craft your response to this request. Some things to keep in mind:
Consider consulting a lawyer to assist in drafting the response; avoiding a penalty here can be far cheaper than trying to contest a penalty once it is issued.
After hearing your due diligence submissions, if any, WorkSafeBC will then decide if it is going to issue a fine/penalty. If it does, WorkSafeBC policy determines how it is calculated.
First, the policy requires that the penalty be based on the employer’s payroll for the year before the incident. For example, if the incident that results in the penalty takes place on February 2021, WorkSafeBC will calculate the penalty using the employer’s 2020 assessable payroll. The penalty is calculated as 0.5% of that amount.
Penalties may also be multiplied, resulting in far higher amounts. Multipliers include where the penalty was for a high-risk violation, was intentional, or where there are prior penalties.
The primary preventative step for avoiding penalties for any employer is exercising due diligence before an incident occurs. Due diligence works in two ways:
Where a violation has occurred, you should work proactively to demonstrate your efforts to address any issues identified by WorkSafeBC or others. WorkSafeBC is required to consider whether or not a penalty is necessary to motivate you to come into compliance. While that is not the only factor, a proactive employer who takes safety and compliance seriously after an incident is in a better position to avoid a penalty than an employer who is slow to act.
A penalty is measured in dollars, and often employers see smaller penalties as not being worth disputing. However, penalties have hidden costs that should be taken into account when deciding whether or not to request a review.
First, once an employer has a penalty, each additional penalty for the same or similar violation, within 3 years, will be doubled. This exponential effect of each penalty means that any one penalty being successfully appealed can have a significant cost savings down the road.
For example, an employer that has a reasonable ground to appeal a $5,000 penalty may determine the amount is not worth appealing. However, a second penalty will be $10,000, and a third will be $20,000, for a total of $35,000. If the second and third penalties have stronger evidence to support them, the chances of winning on a review will be lower. Had the employer contested the first penalty, then the second penalty would have been $5,000, and the third only $10,000, for a total savings of $20,000. In that scenario, appealing a $5,000 penalty is not just about saving $5,000, it’s about reducing the risk of higher penalties down the road.
Second, penalties can affect how much you pay in insurance premiums. Many employers are eligible for what is called a “certificate of recognition” program, which entitles an employer to up to 15% off their WorkSafeBC premiums. However, if you have a penalty, you can be barred from the program for a period of time.
Third, employers with too many penalties may be taken to court. WorkSafeBC can commence court petitions against employers and their directors, seeking injunctions. Once obtained, these injunctions can lead to findings of contempt, with even stiffer penalties. In some cases, WorkSafeBC may even obtain an order barring a company or its directors from continuing to work in their industry.
Based on all of the above, any employer that receives a penalty should consider requesting a review.
Are you facing a WorkSafeBC order or penalty? Contact us.
Any time you are issued an order or a penalty, you may request that it be reviewed. These requests must be made within 45 days of the decision being reviewed.
To request a review, you need to complete WorkSafeBC's "Request for Review" form and submit it to WorkSafeBC.
Reviews of orders and penalties are handled by WorkSafeBC’s Review Division. Within the Review Division, your review will be assigned to a Review Officer. Most Review Officers are lawyers. Review Officers work for WorkSafeBC, and are required to follow WorkSafeBC’s policies.
Once you request the review, Review Division will require that you show that you have notified your workers of the review.
Next, WorkSafeBC will send you all of the documents WorkSafeBC has related to your matter. If you disagree that all of the documents have been sent to you, you will need to demand further documents from WorkSafeBC.
WorkSafeBC will then ask that you prepare written submissions outlining why you think the decision under review should be changed. These written submissions will be provided to the Officer that made the decision, who has an opportunity to respond. You will then have one final opportunity to respond to what the Officer has added, if anything.
You are required to comply with WorkSafeBC orders and pay the penalty, if any, even if you request a review. If you do not wish to comply with the order or pay the penalty while the review is underway, you will need to request a “stay” of the decision. Review Division will only grant these stays in limited circumstances, so it is important that you carefully consider any request. However, in the case of a fine or penalty, you will need to consider whether or not you require clearance letters. For more information, see our article on clearance letters.
Many employers review orders and penalties without retaining a lawyer.
However, you may want to have a lawyer represent you to ensure that you correctly identify all the legal issues in your case. While most matters that go to the Review Division do not get appealed further, employers can appeal Review Division decisions. For example, employers can appeal Review Division decisions on penalties to the Workers Compensation Appeal Tribunal (“WCAT”). Employers can also take both penalties decisions from WCAT and order decisions from Review Division to the British Columbia Supreme Court in what is called a “judicial review”.
In 2014, the British Columbia Court of Appeal decided that you must raise any legal issues, including any challenges you wish to make under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, at the Review Division. If you fail to do so, the court can refuse to hear those issues when you get to court on a judicial review. Accordingly, if you think the matter under review may make it to court, you will need to know what issues may be raised there. A lawyer can assist with that.
Yes. You may retain a lawyer to act as your “authorized representative”. WorkSafeBC will then deal with that lawyer on the review.
Hooper Law can assist at any stage of your dealings with WorkSafeBC. Contact us.
