Coast Forest: Reports

Proposal to Amend the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation

Towards An Effective OH&S Regulation Governing Forestry Operations

(93 pages, 412K)

This is the response of the Central Interior Logging Association, Coast Forest Products Association, Council of Forest Industries, Interior Logging Association, Interior Lumber Manufacturer's Association, Northwest Logging Association, Tolko Industries Ltd. and Truck loggers Association to WorkSafeBC's April 30, 2007 proposals to amend the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.

Safety is an important issue in BC's forest industry. We believe WorkSafeBC, forest companies, contractors and employees share a common goal: safe forestry workplaces.

Crucial to achieving this goal is an effective OH&S Regulation that is clear and certain; focuses on key risks; is consistent with other law; and, delivers real and demonstrable safety value toward the primary legislative objective, in this case, ensuring safe workplaces. Our assessment shows that significant change is still needed if the Regulation is to satisfy these principles and make a significant contribution to our common goal.

Five Key Issues Require Attention

The submission identifies five issues of significant concern that recur throughout the Regulation and WorkSafeBC's proposals:

Redundant, Inflexible and Compound Obligations, Inconsistent with Other Legislation: although some of WorkSafeBC's proposals eliminate redundancies, they still abound, although WorkSafeBC has made valuable proposals to enhance flexibility, many provisions provide for only one, prescriptive approach, instead of focusing on the desired outcome or providing options, some provisions are inconsistent with other government legislation and policy.
Inconsistent Descriptions and Application of Risk Criteria: while some provisions and some WorkSafeBC proposals reflect reasonable risk-based approaches and concepts, the Regulation and proposals appear inconsistent, with many obligations imposed regardless of risk and, therefore, regardless of value.
Unfettered Rule Making Outside the Regulation: many provisions of the Regulation are based on what is "authorized by" or "acceptable to" the Board. These decisions have the force of law, yet, unlike the development of the Regulation, there are no criteria that govern their development.
Inappropriate Application to Some forestry Operations: some requirements are inappropriate because the underlying concern does not apply to the activity, of the obligation is impossible to achieve.
Uncertainty of Responsibility: many provisions in the Regulation and WorkSafeBC proposals do not specify who is responsible for achieving the obligation. This confused companies, contactors and employees about what is expected of them. Far from contributing to safety, this uncertainty of responsibility undermines it.

The submission also examines individually many of the sections of the Regulation affecting forestry.

Some of these concerns are straightforward and their solutions easy to implement. Other concerns are more complex and their solutions more elusive. More time and effort is needed to confirm that the concerns of this nature we have identified are legitimate, to further assess options for addressing the legitimate concerns and to develop truly durable solutions.

We believe these solutions will be arrived at only through a collaborative effort between the industry and WorkSafeBC, which should be undertaken before final proposals are presented for approval to the Worker's Compensation Board.

We welcome the opportunity to continue working with WorkSafeBC to deliver a revised OH&S Regulation that not only works for both the regulator and the regulated, but results in safer workplaces for all.