WorkSafeBC's New Penalty Changes Now in Effect
The agency's Board of Directors approved amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Penalty Amounts Policy D12-196-6, and the changes were effective July 4, 2017.
A new administrative penalty amounts policy is now in effect for WorkSafeBC, which works with employers and workers in Canada's British Columbia to prevent workplace injury, illness, and disease. The agency oversees a no-fault workers' compensation insurance system and seeks to rehabilitate injured workers and provide timely return to work, along with providing fair compensation to replace workers' lost wages while they are recovering from injuries.
The agency's Board of Directors approved amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Penalty Amounts Policy D12-196-6, and the changes were effective July 4, 2017.
The board approval occurred on June 28. According to the agency, the Policy, Regulation and Research Division consulted extensively on the OHS Penalty Amounts Policy in 2015, and the approved changes reflect the intent of the 2016 revisions to the policy by clarifying that the multiplier(s) from item 2(a) of the policy are included when calculating the repeat penalty amount. The changes also provide clarification on how repeat penalty amounts are calculated by including a table illustrating the repeat penalty multipliers. This table was also included in the material consulted on in 2015.
The maximum penalty allowed is currently $637,415.60, but it is adjusted on Jan. 1 of each year. Multipliers that can increase it are whether the circumstances on which the penalty is based are high risk, intentional, involve breaching a stop work or stop use order, among other things.