CLE Online

Occupational Health & Safety: Introduction

Lorna A. Pawluk — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver

Enforcement Tools Available Under the Act Following Bill 9

• compliance agreements
• citations
• stop work and stop operations orders
• administrative penalties
• injunctions (ss. 46 and 198)
• prosecutions

Kevin Love — Community Legal Assistance Society, Vancouver
John McNamee — Senior Policy & Legal Advisor, WorkSafeBC, Richmond
Andrew  Schafer — Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

Fatal and Serious Injury Investigations and Their Lessons

• legal issues and practice management tips that arise when advising clients on accident investigations involving serious injuries and fatalities
• overview of WorkSafeBC’s new investigation protocol arising from the Dyble and Macatee Reports including counsel’s experience during the Babine and Lakeland sawmill investigations
• commentary and practical tips with respect to employer’s investigations including discussion of the application of privilege to employer's reports and other documents prepared for or at the instruction of legal counsel, with specific comment on the recent decision of  Alberta v. Suncor Energy Inc. and its application in BC
• workers’ view on both WorkSafeBC’s investigation processes and employers’ investigations from the perspective of union counsel at the Lakeland Mills Coroner’s Inquest

Alissa Demerse — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
David K. Jones — Bernard LLP, Vancouver
John D. Rogers, QC — Victory Square Law Office LLP, Vancouver

Discriminatory Action Complaints

• overview of ss. 150 and 151 of the Act
• scope of provisions and required elements
• remedies
• recent developments – intersection with bullying and harassment, changes in board process, and enforcement of orders
• challenges and practice tips for employer and worker advocates

William C. Boyte — Executive Director, Employers’ Advisers Office, Richmond
Peter Eastwood — Hamilton Howell Bain & Gould, Vancouver

Networking Lunch

Judicial Reviews and Compensation Matters: Introduction

Janet K. Patterson — Barrister & Solicitor, Burnaby

Occupational Disease Adjudication After Fraser Health

• review of the SCC decision, British Columbia (Workers' Compensation Appeal Tribunal) v. Fraser Health Authority
• impact of the decision from the union's/workers' perspective
• impact of the decision from the employer's perspective

Alan D. Winter — Harris & Company LLP, Vancouver
Stan A.H. Guenther — Rush Crane Guenther, Vancouver

Post-Decision Remedies and More

• key lessons from the last decade of judicial review decisions
• the options available to address WCAT and Review Division decisions that a party disagrees with
• how lessons from the courts’ jurisprudence can be applied by advocates and counsel at the Tribunal or Review Division level to minimize likelihood for the need to resort to post-decision remedies

Monique Pongracic-Speier — Ethos Law Group LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

Mental Disorder Claims Under s. 5.1 of the Act

• background of mental disorder claims and recent statistics
• significant work-related stressors – bullying and harassment
• traumatic events
• how mental disorder claims can affect labour and employment relationships
• practice tips for worker and employer representatives

Danielle Allen — Hastings Labour Law Office LLP, Vancouver
Kim Fournier — Manager, Law & Policy, Employers' Advisers Office, Kelowna
Rolf Harrison — Rush Crane Guenther, Vancouver

Closing Remarks

Janet K. Patterson — Barrister & Solicitor, Burnaby
Lorna A. Pawluk — Barrister & Solicitor, Vancouver