Amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation in effect August 22, 2022

A new section, 3.12.1 – Reassignment of refused work, has been added to the regulations relating to section 3.12, Refusal of Unsafe Work.

The purpose of these amendments is to enhance worker safety and promote increased worker engagement by:

  • Introducing new requirements for an employer to provide written notice of an unresolved work refusal to any worker who is subsequently assigned or permitted to perform that work
  • Providing written notice of the reassignment of refused work to the joint health and safety committee or worker health and safety representative, when there is one at the workplace, or to the union or other worker

WorkSafeBC has developed a resource, Regulatory amendment: A primer on refusing unsafe work, which provides further context on the amendments.

A revised OHS guideline, G3.12, is also available to provide additional information and support.