The provincial government is taking action to protect worker safety, Justice Minister Suzanne Anton said Tuesday in answer to a bill the Opposition NDP introduced this week aimed at strengthening criminal and regulatory investigations into workplace deaths.
In a statement, Anton noted that former B.C. senior bureaucrat Gord Macatee has been appointed the temporary administrator of WorkSafeBC.
"Government is continuing to take comprehensive action to protect worker safety by making sure WorkSafeBC's investigations are handled correctly, and we are driving change in the culture and process at WorkSafeBC with the appointment," Anton said.
Macatee will reportedly examine how regulation and enforcement are separated in other workplace safety agencies and help appoint a new CEO. He has until July to report back to Labour Minister and Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond.
The NDP introduced the Workplace Accountability Act in the legislature on Monday, the same day the annual day of mourning for killed and injured workers was held in communities across B.C. It also comes after Crown counsel decided not to pursue charges against the owners of the two central B.C. sawmills - Lakeland Mills in Prince George and Babine Forest Products in Burns Lake - that were the scenes of dust-related explosions slightly more than two years ago that killed four workers and injured a further 41 in total.
Although it's unlikely it will be passed, the Act would, in part, require mandatory police investigations of all workplace fatalities and serious injury cases, in order to determine whether criminal negligence exists.
It would also require Crown counsel and police to develop a specialized prosecution policy for workplace fatalities or serious injuries cases, and ensure police and WorksafeBC inspectors are familiarized with the so-called Westray Bill.
It was passed in response to the 1992 Westray mine disaster in Nova Scotia which killed 26 workers. The bill amended the Criminal Code in regards to workplace criminal negligence. Victims of the Lakeland Mills and Babine Forest Products explosions are upset no charges were pursued against those sawmills owners under the Criminal Code.
Anton said the government takes workplace safety very seriously, and such cases are assigned to senior Crown counsel with the necessary training and experience to deal with them.
"Failure to comply with the duty created under the Westray provisions is a criminal offence," Anton said. "However, Crown has to be able to prove each legal element of a criminal offence beyond a reasonable doubt. It is a stringent standard and among other things, requires proof of wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other people."
