You are invited to attend one of WorkSafeBC’s virtual rate information sessions Join other B.C. employers in learning about WorkSafeBC’s preliminary assessment premium rates for 2024, and how you can reduce your premiums through a safer and healthier workplace and helping injured workers recover. Register for a session now. See additional details below. Please share this…
Read MoreApproved Training Providers – Asbestos Abatement Certification
WorkSafeBC has posted the first wave of WorkSafeBC approved asbestos abatement training providers to our website. This is a key step in engaging workers and employers in understanding their responsibilities and in working towards getting their certification by January 1, 2024. To accompany this milestone, starting Monday, June 26, WorkSafeBC will be actively promoting training…
Read MoreBaltej Dhillon appointed as Chair to WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors
On June 29th, the Minister of Labour Harry Bains announced the appointment of Baltej Dhillon as the new chair of our Board of Directors. He has been a member of the Board since 2017 when he was appointed as the representative in the area of law or law enforcement. He takes over the role from…
Read MorePlanning for the worksite of the future: WorkSafeBC uses AI, human expertise and multidisciplinary tactics
OHS Canada | June 27, 2023 | By Alexandra Skinner/WorkSafeBC Who could have predicted the dangers of electric vehicle batteries? How could we have known how to prevent musculoskeletal injuries in cannabis manufacturing when the industry was just starting? Did anyone consider the risks to workers associated with 3D printing? For the past decade, WorkSafeBC’s…
Read MoreRoad Builders will use virtual reality and simulators to recruit
Sitenews The $3.9-million project aims to showcase road building and highway maintenance careers. Key Takeaways: The Whole Story A digital, immersive road building experience is coming to a B.C. town near you. Jobseekers across the province will have the opportunity to learn more about highway maintenance jobs through a $3.9-million grant to the British Columbia…
Read MoreMaintaining employment for injured workers
Supporting injured workers in their return to work is good for them and good for business. Starting in 2024, it will also be a legal requirement for employers to co-operate with injured workers and with WorkSafeBC to ensure the worker’s safe and timely return to work. New legal requirements: Duties to co-operate and maintain employment The provincial…
Read MoreTrades Training Fund
The LNG Canada Trades Training Fund helps cover the costs of Foundation or Apprenticeship training for an employee interested in developing their skills in high demand trades. Applications to the Trades Training Fund can be made by employers only (For construction companies with 20 employees or less) on behalf of their apprentices and must be received one month…
Read More‘A major turning point’: B.C. asbestos abatement certification
Journal of Commerce | Evan Saunders | June 26, 2023 British Columbia is poised to introduce a new licensing and certification regime for asbestos abatement work, a move WorkSafeBC calls an extremely important step forward. “I think this is probably the single most significant change in this industry in years and the biggest step forward in…
Read MoreProposed amendments to mental disorder policy
WorkSafeBC’s Policy, Regulation and Research Department is releasing a discussion paper with proposed amendments to mental disorder policy. The compensation policy review Restoring the Balance: A Worker-Centred Approach to Workers’ Compensation Policy makes two recommendations to amend WorkSafeBC’s mental disorder policy in the Rehabilitation Services & Claims Manual, Volume II. The discussion paper and information on how to provide feedback…
Read MoreProposed policy amendments regarding chronic pain
The WorkSafeBC Policy, Regulation and Research Department (PRRD) is releasing a discussion paper, with options and draft policy, on chronic pain. WorkSafeBC policy states a worker’s chronic pain may be compensable when the pain results as a consequence of a work-related injury or disease. The PRRD is proposing amendments to policy to reflect medical literature…
Read MoreWorkSafeBC OHSR Part 6 Substance Specific Requirements – Combustible Dusts; Public Consultation
On behalf of WorkSafeBC –> This is a friendly reminder that the proposed amendments to Part 6 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation relating to combustible dusts are now in the public consultation stage and are available on the WorkSafeBC website for your review and feedback. This consultation phase provides stakeholders an opportunity to provide feedback…
Read MoreGET ON THE ROAD TO RED SEAL
The Construction Foundation of BC (CFBC) is helping current and future skilled trades apprentices to navigate barriers and successfully achieve their Red Seal Endorsement. Using a suite of tools and one on one supports, apprentices are able to continue to progress in their apprenticeship and ultimately, complete their training and achieve their Red Seal Endorsement….
Read MoreRevised regulations require work zone risk assessment
Working at the side of a road for any reason and for any amount of time means they’re considered roadside workers. And that means their employers have specific responsibilities for their safety. This includes meeting revised traffic control regulations that require a work zone risk assessment. The new ConeZoneBC.com provides practical guides and checklists you can use to meet…
Read MoreUnlicensed trade workers, climate change top safety risks in 2023: TSBC
Journal of Commerce | Evan Saunders | June 5, 2023 The ongoing climate crisis has increasingly become a source of technical danger for British Columbians, joining careless gas line digging and unlicensed trade workers as the preeminent safety threats this year. These three issues were highlighted by Technical Safety British Columbia (TSBC) in its Annual State of…
Read MoreB.C. to become first province to require asbestos abatement licensing
Journal of Commerce | DCN-JOC News Services | June 12, 2023 VICTORIA – Starting Jan. 1, 2024, British Columbia will become the first province in Canada to require asbestos abatement contractors be licensed. Changes to the Workers Compensation Act gave WorkSafeBC the authority to administer a certification program around asbestos abatement work with the training scheduled…
Read MoreWorkers Compensation Act changes require employer to find work for injured employees
Journal of Commerce | DCN-JOC News Services | June 13, 2023 VICTORIA — Changes to the Workers Compensation Act in British Columbia will require employers to ensure injured workers can return to their job or find an equivalent once they are recovered. The changes will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The particular provision will…
Read MoreConcrete Pump Certification – End of Transition Period
In just over six months — January 1, 2024 — the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation requiring operators of concrete pumps to be certified will come into enforcement. Since WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors approved the changes in December 2021, employers and workers have had the opportunity to obtain the required training and experience before going through the…
Read MoreBoard of Directors approves amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation
From Lori Guiton – Director, Policy, Regulation and Research Department At its April 2023 meeting, WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors approved amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. These amendments will come into effect on November 1, 2024. Strikethrough versions of the amendments with explanatory notes can be accessed below. Deletions in the regulatory amendments are identified…
Read MoreBCCWITT May News and Events!
On behalf of BC Centre for Women in the Trades — BCCWITT is celebrating some exciting things coming up in the next few weeks, so we want to keep you in the loop! Did you know that BCCWITT is turning 5 years old next month!? To celebrate, we have a few upcoming contests and surprises. We…
Read MoreBCBC: Victoria, WorkSafeBC need to better consider employer needs
Jock Finlayson | May 19, 2023 8:22 PM | The Orca A ‘worker centric’ approach at WorkSafeBC shouldn’t ignore employers, write Jock Finlayson and Ken Peacock Since coming to power in 2017, the NDP government has been engineering what it describes as a more “worker centric” approach at WorkSafeBC, the province’s occupational health and safety…
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