British Columbia Order in Council — Amendment to Employment Standards Regulation (O.C. 512/2022)
O.C. 512/2022
British Columbia — Orders in Council
PROVINCE OF BRITISH COLUMBIA ORDER OF THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR IN COUNCIL Order in Council No. , Approved and Ordered Lieutenant Governor Executive Council Chambers, Victoria page 1 of 4 On the recommendation of the undersigned, the Lieutenant Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Executive Council, orders that, effective January 1, 2023, (
a) sections 7, 34 (
c) and 35 (
a) of the Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2019 , S.B.C. 2019, c. 27, are brought into force, and (
b) the Employment Standards Regulation, B.C. Reg. 396/95, is amended as set out in the attached Schedule. Minister of Labour Presiding Member of the Executive Council (This
part is for administrative purposes only and is not part of the Order.) Authority under which Order is made: Act and section: Employment Standards Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 113, s. 127; Employment Standards Amendment Act, 2019, S.B.C. 2019, c. 27, s. 44 Other: O.C. 1155/95 R20607337 512 October 11, 2022
page 2 of 4
SCHEDULE 1
Section 45.24 (
d) and (
e) of Employment Standards Regulation, B.C. Reg. 396/95, is repealed. 2 The following Division is added to
Part 7.1: Division 5 – Hazardous Work Prescribed hazardous work 45.25
(1) In this section: “confined space” has the same meaning as in
section 9.1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation; “fall protection system” has the same meaning as in
section 11.1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation; “forest firefighter” means a member of a fire brigade, who is assigned primarily to fire suppression duties in a forest fire scene, whether or not those duties include the performance of ambulance or rescue services; “RCS dust” has the same meaning as in
section 6.110 (1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation; “silica process” has the same meaning as in s ection 6.110 (1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation; “underground working” has the same meaning as in
section 22.1 (1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.
(2) For the purposes of the definition of “hazardous work” in
section 9.1 (1) of the Act, the following work is prescribed unl ess the work is carried out by a trainee or an apprentice registered under the Industry Training Authority Act: (
a) construction work; (
b) the following work in the forest industry: (
i) tree falling and logging; (ii) carrying out silviculture activities; (
c) forest firefighter work; (
d) work that is done at a place that re quires the use of a fall protection system under
section 11.2 of the of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation; (
e) the operation of a chainsaw; (
f) the following work in a production process in a processing facility that processes fish, poultry or any other animal: (
i) killing or scalding animals; (ii) moving an animal, other than fish or poultry, from a holding pen to a location in which the animal will be killed; (iii) operating machinery that is used for processing, including canning machinery, but not including (
A) other machinery used for packaging,
page 3 of 4 (
B) scales, or (
C) meat slicers; (iv) operating a loader crane; (
g) the following work in the oil and gas industry: (
i) drilling; (ii) well servicing; (
h) power line construction work or ma intenance work that involves potential electrical hazards; (
i) work in a production process at a paper mill or pulp mill; (
j) work in a production process at a wood processing facility, including a shake mill, shingle mill or sawmill; (
k) work in a production process at a foundry, metal pr ocessing or metal fabrication operation, refinery or smelter; (
l) work in a confined space other than entering a walk-in freezer or cooler to place or retrieve an item; (
m) work in an underground working; (
n) work that involves exposure to ionizi ng radiation that exceeds the exposure limits set in
section 7.19 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation; (
o) work in a silica process; (
p) work in which a worker is or may be exposed to potentially harmful levels of RCS dust; (
q) work in relation to asbestos that constitutes a moderate risk work activity or high risk work activity as defined in
section 6.1 of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation; (
r) work in which a worker is or might be exposed to an air contaminant that exceeds the limits set out in secti on 8.32 (
a) to (
c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. Prescribed age 45.26 For the purposes of
section 9.1 (2) (
b) of the Act, (
a) the prescribed age in respect of the hazardous work described in
section 45.25 (2) (a), (b) (ii) and (
c) to (
d) of this regulation is 16 years of age, and (
b) the prescribed age in respect of the hazardous work described in
section 45.25 (2) (b) (
i) and (
e) to (
r) is 18 years of age. 3 The following
section is added: Transition – employment of children to perform hazardous work 53
Section 9.1 [hiring children — hazardous industry or hazardous work] of the Act does not apply in respect of a child if all of the following circumstances apply: (
a) the child was hired before January 1, 2023; (
b) the child’s position and duties ha ve not changed since January 1, 2023;
page 4 of 4 (
c) in the case of (
i) hazardous work describe d in
section 45.25 (2) (a), (b) (ii) and (
c) to (d), the child will be 16 years of age on April 1, 2023, and (ii) hazardous work described in sec tion 45.25 (2) (b) (
i) and (
e) to (r), the child will be 18 years of age on April 1, 2023.