OHS Program Development in British Columbia
A written occupational health and safety program is a statutory requirement for most employers in British Columbia under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. This page sets out the applicable requirements and describes the program development services provided by Absolute Safety Consulting Inc.
Applicability
Section 3.1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation establishes two thresholds at which a formal occupational health and safety program becomes mandatory. A formal program is required where an employer has a workforce of 20 or more workers in a workplace that has not been determined to be low risk, or a workforce of 50 or more workers in a workplace that has been determined to be low risk. Most construction, industrial, manufacturing and trades employers in British Columbia meet one of these thresholds.
Section 3.2 applies below these thresholds. It requires a less formal program consisting of regular monthly meetings with workers, directed at the correction of unsafe conditions and practices, with a written record maintained of each meeting and the matters discussed. No employer in British Columbia is exempt from an occupational health and safety obligation on the basis of size alone.
An officer may also require a formal program in any workplace where, in the officer's opinion, one is necessary, independent of workforce size or risk classification.
Required Program Content
Section 3.3 of the Regulation sets out specific requirements for the content of a formal occupational health and safety program. The requirements are stated in general terms, and it is left to each employer to determine how they are met in its own workplace.
A program meets them in practice when it reflects the actual operation: the work as it is performed, the responsibilities of the people who supervise and carry it out, and routines that supervisors can follow and document.
A program also has to remain current. New equipment, new tasks and new work sites change the hazards an employer faces, and the program should be updated as they occur so that it describes the workplace an officer will inspect.
An officer may require an employer to produce evidence of each required element, and a program that does not address all of them does not meet the requirements of the Regulation.
Regulatory Enforcement and the Due Diligence Defence
Non compliance with the Regulation exposes an employer to orders, stop work orders and administrative penalties. Orders are posted at the workplace and form part of the employer's compliance history with WorkSafeBC. A stop work order halts work presenting an immediate hazard until the hazard is corrected, and on a scheduled project the resulting delay frequently exceeds the cost of any penalty.
Administrative penalties are determined by the nature of the violation, the employer's compliance history and the size of its payroll, and increase for high risk, intentional or repeat violations. The statutory maximum is adjusted annually and currently exceeds $800,000.
A penalty is not imposed where the employer establishes that it exercised due diligence. That requires documented evidence created before the violation: a program that identifies the hazard, and records of training, inspection and supervision. A properly implemented program therefore reduces the likelihood of injury and provides the basis for that defence.
Scope of Services
Absolute Safety Consulting Inc. develops the written occupational health and safety program required under the Regulation, delivered as the employer's OHS manual. Each manual is built for the employer's specific operation.
Development begins with a review of the employer's operation: the work performed, the equipment and materials in use, the hazards present, and any existing documentation or WorkSafeBC orders. An existing program is assessed against the Regulation and the COR audit standard and revised or replaced. The manual is written in plain language so supervisors and workers can apply it on the job.
Program development includes implementation support. Absolute Safety Consulting Inc. works directly with the employer's supervisory staff to confirm that inspections, meetings and investigations are conducted as documented, so that the records required for compliance and for a due diligence defence exist when needed.
The manual is structured around the fourteen elements of the current Certificate of Recognition (COR) audit standard, with Return to Work as an optional fifteenth element because of its importance. It may include the following:
- OHS Policy
Policy statement establishing the employer's commitment to health and safety, with rights and responsibilities for the employer, supervisors, workers and subcontractors.
- Hazard Assessment and Control
Workplace hazard assessments, pre job hazard assessments, job hazard analyses and field level hazard assessments with risk ranking and control measures.
- Safe Work Practices
General practices for activities common to the operation, such as ladder use, electrical safety, manual lifting and housekeeping.
- Safe Job Procedures
Step by step procedures written for the employer's specific tasks and equipment.
- Company Rules
General workplace rules, refusal of unsafe work, disciplinary action, bullying and harassment, impairment, and working alone policies.
- Personal Protective Equipment
Selection, use, care, maintenance and replacement requirements for all required PPE.
- Preventative Maintenance
Scheduled inspection and maintenance programs for equipment, tools and vehicles.
- Training and Communication
Competency based training, new worker orientation and safety communication procedures.
- Inspections
Scheduled workplace inspections of premises, equipment, work methods and work practices.
- Incident Investigation and Reporting
Investigation procedures, root cause analysis, corrective actions and regulatory reporting.
- Emergency Preparedness
Emergency response plans, first aid assessment and evacuation procedures.
- Statistics and Record Keeping
Tracking and documentation of incidents, inspections, training and all program activities.
- Legislation
Identification and integration of applicable legislation and regulatory requirements into the program.
- Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee
JOHSC structure, terms of reference, meeting requirements and rules of procedure, where required.
- Return to Work (Optional)
Modified duties, gradual return planning and coordination with WorkSafeBC claims management.
Supplementary Programs and Forms
Each manual also includes supplementary programs addressing the specific hazards present in the employer's operation. These may include WHMIS, fall protection, confined space entry, respiratory protection, silica exposure control, noise control and hearing conservation, hot work, ground disturbance and excavation, lockout and isolation of hazardous energy, dropped object prevention, subcontractor management, communicable disease prevention, violence prevention, and musculoskeletal injury prevention.
Each manual is delivered with the supporting forms required for implementation, including inspection checklists, incident report forms, hazard assessment forms, orientation records, training records, meeting minutes templates, violence prevention risk assessments, musculoskeletal injury risk assessments, and subcontractor pre qualification forms.
Limitations of Template Based Programs
A program adopted from a generic template typically references an incorrect jurisdiction and does not address the hazards specific to the employer's operations. Such a program does not withstand review by a WorkSafeBC officer or a court.
More significantly, a program's evidentiary value depends on implementation, not on its existence as a document. A program that has not been trained, followed and documented provides no due diligence defence, regardless of its content.
Service Area
Absolute Safety Consulting Inc. is based in Kelowna, British Columbia, and provides program development services to employers throughout the province, including the Okanagan, the Lower Mainland, the Kootenays, the Interior and northern British Columbia. Program development is document intensive and is conducted primarily off site, with site visits scheduled where required for hazard assessment or implementation.
Programs developed for clients pursuing Certificate of Recognition (COR) certification are structured to align with COR audit requirements.