September 5th, 2024 2:30 pm
On behalf of Trevor Hughes, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Labour ->
The Lieutenant Governor in Council (LGIC) has approved an Order in Council (OIC) amending the OHSR to require employers to ensure flush toilets are readily available at construction sites where the project has or will have 25 or more workers. The OIC is now public and will take effect on October 1, 2024.
As you know, the OHSR previously required employers to ensure that a sufficient number of washrooms were readily available for workers and, if flush facilities could not be provided because of the nature of the workplace or the nature of the work, then employers had to provide access to portable washrooms and handwashing facilities.
In November 2023, the Minister of Labour directed WorkSafeBC, pursuant to Section 116 (1) of the Workers Compensation Act (WCA), to consider amending the OHSR to require the provision of flush toilets on construction sites in BC where the project has 25 or more workers. WorkSafeBC developed proposed changes and held public consultations on them in December 2023 and July 2024. I wish to acknowledge the enormous amount of work done by WorkSafeBC since that direction to get us to the point we are at with today’s announcement. Their work is reflected in the attached OIC.
As WorkSafeBC had not yet amended the OHSR and given Government’s interest in having the changes in place as soon as possible, the LGIC has approved the OIC in accordance with Section 116 (3) of the WCA.
The changes to the OHSR reflect the proposed changes that WorkSafeBC had developed, and consulted on, in July 2024.
Further information is available in the news release at https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024LBR0015-001441.
Please feel free to share this with your members/affiliates/stakeholders and the public, and don’t hesitate to reach out to Trevor Hughes, Deputy Minister of Labour with any questions.