OHS Penalty Policies

On January 26, 2016, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors (BOD) approved changes to the OHS Penalty Policies, following consultation in the fall of 2015.

The changes include:

  • Overall changes to streamline, clarify, and update existing policies.
  • Changes to penalty amount calculations to make penalties more proportionate relative to an employer’s size and the seriousness of the circumstances.

The following policies were amended:

  • D12-196-1 OHS Penalty Criteria
  • D12-196-3 Transfer of OHS History
  • D12-196-6 OHS Penalty Amounts
  • D24-73-1 Claims Cost Levies

In addition, Policy D8-160-1 (First Aid — Special Rate of Assessment) was deleted.

The policy changes apply to all violations on and after March 1, 2016. The BOD resolution is available here.  Updated Prevention Manual pages will be available on March 1.