Summary of WorkSafeBC’s Response

On October 15, 2002, two government workers in Kamloops were fatally shot by a co-worker. In response to an inquest completed by the Coroner's Court of BC in 2003, the Workers' Compensation Board ("WCB") reviewed Part 4 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation ("OHSR") relating to workplace conduct and violence, and developed proposed draft amendments consistent with the recommendations in the Coroner's report. In addition, a number of other amendments were developed which were not directly related to the recommendations of the reports but were considered relevant.

In March 2004, a public hearing was held, and 90 percent of stakeholders expressed significant opposition to the proposed amendment package regarding workplace conduct and violence.

In July 2004, after consideration of the issues and concerns raised during the public hearing, the Board of Directors (“BOD”) did not approve the proposed regulatory amendments. Instead, it directed that further analysis and consultation be undertaken to try to find a workable solution to address workplace violence issues and to return with a recommendation.

As a result of this direction, the WCB undertook a comprehensive review and comparative analysis of legislation, regulations and non-regulatory practices regarding workplace violence issues in select jurisdictions in Canada, the USA, Europe and Australia. This review highlighted that British Columbia has among the most significant and comprehensive regulations of any of the jurisdictions examined.

In June 2005, after careful assessment of the comprehensive review and comparative analysis of legislation, regulation, and non-regulatory practices regarding workplace violence in 22 jurisdictions, as well as stakeholder feedback on the previously proposed regulatory amendments at the 2004 public hearing, the BOD determined that no regulatory amendments would be made to the OHSR in response to the Coroner's four recommendations. Instead, the BOD approved increased education and training for officers with respect to the enforcement of the regulations as well as increased education and training for employers and workers to increase awareness of the current worker-to-worker violence provisions in sections 4.24 to 4.26 of the OHSR. The WCB continues to be concerned with eliminating workplace violence and doing everything possible to prevent the recurrence of violent incidents.

To the right, you can review the comprehensive review and comparative analysis report in Jurisdictional Review and Analysis, as well as information summaries prepared for each jurisdiction, for the BOD’s consideration.