WorkSafeBC released its "enforcement report" for 2010 today. Key stats from the report are:

• In 2010, WorkSafeBC imposed 256 penalties, totaling $3,163,898 against employers for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and the Workers Compensation Act.
• The 256 penalties issued in 2010 were imposed against 232 individual employers, with penalty amounts ranging from $1,000 to $145,046.98.
• A total of 12 incidents in which an employer was penalized involved a fatality.
• The highest penalty in 2010 ($145,046.98) was imposed against Penfolds Roofing for an incident in which two of its workers were working on a roof between 4.5 m and 6 m above grade without using fall protection. This was a repeated violation of the fall protection requirements as well as the requirement to provide workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision necessary to ensure their safety. 
• Employers from 58 industry classifications received penalties in 2010.
• Companies in five construction-related classifications accounted for 65% (168) of the penalties imposed. Those companies were in the following industry classifications:
• WorkSafeBC applies a penalty where there has been a serious and/or repeated violation of occupational health and safety laws and regulations; where a sanction is required to motivate the specific employer to comply with the law; and where the sanction can act as a deterrent for others.
• Penalty amounts vary year over year due to the size of employers penalized (employers with larger payrolls are assessed higher penalties) and the seriousness of the violations. In certain circumstances, claim costs may be applied in addition to the penalty; and in extraordinary circumstances, WorkSafeBC has the ability to go beyond prescribed limits and increase the penalty amount.
• The maximum penalty amount is adjusted yearly - in 2010 it was $565,823.60.

Review and Appeal

• Penalties imposed may be appealed to the Review Division of WorkSafeBC
• Parties can appeal Review Division decisions to an external and independent appeal body - the Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal.
• Approximately two-thirds of penalties are not appealed; and of those penalties that are appealed approximately 90 percent are upheld.

Prosecutions

• Changes to the law in 1999 gave WorkSafeBC the ability to apply higher monetary penalties administratively. From 1995 to 2000, WorkSafeBC referred 28 cases to the Crown to consider for prosecution. Of these 21 resulted in convictions and 7 in acquittals or stays of charges. The total amount of fines imposed from the prosecutions in this period was $534,500. The highest fine imposed was $85,000 and one case resulted in imprisonment for 45 days.
• Prior to October 1999, WorkSafeBC could impose a maximum penalty of $30,000. In October 1999, amendments to the Act under Bill 14 came into effect increasing the maximum penalty amount to $500,000.
• Since 1999, WorkSafeBC has imposed 1,900 administrative penalties totaling over $26.7 million. There have been 19 penalties imposed of over more than $100,000 - the largest being $297,120.
• Though infrequent, WorkSafeBC can still, and does, refer cases to the Crown to consider for prosecution. The Crown may consider it in the public interest to pursue formal charges rather than motivate compliance through administrative remedies.
• In 2010, WorkSafeBC referred its 2008 investigation of an agricultural worksite in Langley that claimed the lives of three workers and seriously injured others to Crown Counsel. In August 2010 charges were laid against two companies and four individuals. The case is currently before the courts.

Enforcement

• Administrative penalties are not the only means to motivate an employer to comply with the Regulation and the Act. Following is a list of WorkSafeBC's enforcement activities in 2010:
  • 41,813 inspection reports issued
  • 74,565 orders written
  • 143 investigations completed (includes fatal and serious injury investigations only)
• WorkSafeBC has prioritized enforcement in recent years, significantly increasing the number of compliance and safety officers: to 247 in 2010 from 185 in 2004 to - a 33% increase.
• WorkSafeBC officers include investigations officers who investigate fatal and serious workplace health and safety incidents, and occupational safety and hygiene officers who conduct inspections, respond to incidents reported to WorkSafeBC, and provide consultation and education to help achieve compliance.

WorksafeBC

• WorkSafeBC is an independent provincial statutory agency governed by a Board of Directors that serves about 2.3 million workers and more than 200,000 employers.
• WorkSafeBC was born from a historic compromise between B.C.'s workers and employers in 1917. Under that compromise, workers gave up the right to sue their employers and fellow workers for injuries on the job, and, in return, employers funded a no-fault insurance system.
• WorkSafeBC is committed to safe and healthy workplaces, and to providing return-to-work rehabilitation and legislated compensation benefits.

Source: the above information was lifted directly from WorkSafeBC's March 9, 2011 news release.