15.0 LEGISLATION

 

The legislation governing workplaces in BC is known as the Workers Compensation Act. The "Act" is the LAW and is common to all workplaces regardless of the type of work being done. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulation contains legal requirements that must be met by all workplaces under the inspection jurisdiction of WorkSafeBC. Many sections of the Regulation have associated guidelines and policies.
For more information please visit: www.worksafebc.com  
In this section we will identify some of the common legislated requirements that can affect the quality of your health and safety program and compliance with the Workers Compensation Act. One section of the "Act" states
“An occupational health and safety program as outlined in section 3.3 must be initiated and maintained."
By each employer that has: (Part 3.1)

• by each employer that has
• a workforce of 20 or more workers, and
• by each employer that has a workforce of 50 or more workers.

“In any operation where the workforce is less than that referred to in section 3.1(1)each employer must”:

• Initiate and maintain a less formal program based on regular monthly meetings with workers for discussion of health and safety matters
• ensure that meetings are directed to matters concerning the correction of unsafe conditions and practices and the maintenance of cooperative interest in the health and safety of the workforce, and
• maintain a record of the meetings and the matters discussed.

Workers Compensation Act

The Occupational Health and Safety Regulation is adopted under the Workers Compensation Act.
Some key sections of the Act are described here and provided on this Web site: www.worksafebc.com

• Sections with direct application to the workplace, including the rights and responsibilities of employers, workers, and other workplace parties, are provided verbatim and shown in normal text.
• Sections that deal with administrative provisions, such as administrative practices and regulation-making authority of the Workers' Compensation Board, are summarized and enclosed in boxes. The summaries are provided as a convenient, plain-language reference.

For details, always consult the complete copy of the Act.

 

Occupational Health and Safety Regulation

 

The OHS Regulation contains legal requirements that must be met by all workplaces under the inspectional jurisdiction of the WCB. This includes most workplaces in B.C., except mines and federally chartered workplaces such as banks, interprovincial and international transportation, telephone systems, and radio, television, and cable services.
The purpose of the OHS Regulation is to promote occupational health and safety and to protect workers and other persons present at workplaces from work-related risks to their health, safety, and well-being. Compliance with the requirements provides the basis on which workers and employers, in cooperation, can solve workplace health and safety problems. The requirements are not an end in themselves, but are a foundation upon which to build an effective health and safety program.

 

Guidelines

 

Guidelines for Workers Compensation Act and OHS Regulation

Guidelines are intended to assist with providing ways of complying with the legislation, not to provide exclusive interpretations. Many sections of the Workers Compensation Act (WCA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation have associated guidelines.
More background information on policies and guidelines, and on the hierarchy of authority among the WCA, OHS Regulation, policies, and guidelines, is available in "About Prevention Policy and the OHS Guidelines"

 

Policies

 

Policies for Workers Compensation Act and OHS Regulation
On their web site www.worksafebc.com you will find the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) policies published in the Prevention Manual. The Prevention Manual contains policies of the WCB with respect to prevention matters under the Workers Compensation Act (WCA) and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.
The Prevention Manual (2 MB) is also provided in Adobe Acrobat portable document format (PDF). The PDF files reflect the current printed manual, and include the most recent updates.
In 1999, the Workers Compensation (Occupational Health and Safety) Amendment Act, 1998 replaced the existing occupational health and safety provisions of the WCA with a new Part 3- Occupational Health and Safety. It also repealed the Workplace Act.
The Prevention Manual was first developed to set out WCB policies under Part 3. The Panel of Administrators subsequently decided that all occupational health and safety policies would be consolidated into this manual. This process will be completed in 2004.
Effective December 31, 2003, other occupational health and safety policies found in the Policy and Procedure Manual are no longer Board policy. They are applicable only to historical matters that were conducted prior to this date.