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, at its May 2015 meeting, 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 theAct changes.
Click here for the updated Prevention Manual, along with replacement pages for updating the manual and more details regarding the changes.
Sincerely,
G. John Panusa, LL.M.
Barrister & Solicitor
Director, OHS Regulation, Policy & Governance
WorkSafeBC