The Workers Compensation Act (Act) has been reviewed by British Columbia’s Office of the Legislative Counsel as part of a standard statute revision process. Changes made pursuant to the Statute Revision Act will result in editorial changes to language, as well as renumbering of sections, parts, and divisions of the Act.

At issue in this consultation were the consequential housekeeping revisions required for the policies in the Assessment Manual, to ensure they continue to reflect the legislation, meaning there is no change in the substance of the applicable law or policy. The Policy, Regulation and Research Division has identified seven policies in the Assessment Manual where further policy development may be required. These issues are being reviewed separately from the housekeeping amendments, and will be consulted on independently, if policy development is warranted.

WorkSafeBC’s governing body, the Board of Directors, has authorized WorkSafeBC’s senior executive member responsible for policy development to make certain housekeeping amendments to published policy documents. Despite this, because of the broad impact of the anticipated changes, the Policy, Regulation and Research Division released a discussion paper explaining the proposed housekeeping amendments to the Assessment Manual to stakeholders for information and comment.

Proposed deletions of policy wording are identified with a strikethrough and additions are identified in highlighted bold.

Discussion paper

There were a number of ways for stakeholders to provide feedback on the draft policy housekeeping amendments:

The consultation period ended on May 24, 2019. While housekeeping amendments to policy do not require a decision by WorkSafeBC’s Board of Directors, if any related policy decision-making should be required, the Board of Directors will consider stakeholder feedback before making a decision.

Please note that all comments become part of the Policy, Regulation and Research Division’s database and may be published, including the identity of organizations and those participating on behalf of organizations. The identity of those who have participated on their own behalf will be kept confidential according to the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.