Following a review into WorkSafeBC's procedures for
conducting investigations, the BC government has announced that it
will accept all 43 recommendations of the review's final
report, the WorkSafeBC Review and Action Plan,
which was made public on July 15, 2014. If the government does
implement these recommendations, BC employers can expect provincial
Occupational Health and Safety ("OHS") regulations to
become more stringent and more effectively enforced. Non-compliance
will likely carry more severe penalties.
BC Labour Minister Shirley Bond appointed Mr. Gordon Macatee,
the BC Ferry Commissioner, as Administrator of WorkSafeBC on April
14, 2014. She gave Mr. Macatee a mandate to review WorkSafeBC's
investigation procedures after the Criminal Justice Branch declined
to press criminal charges in the fatal Babine and Lakeland Mill
explosions, both caused by combustible dust. The Criminal Justice
Branch elected to not proceed with prosecution because the
