Northern Health fined $355K for failing to adequately complete workplace safety investigations

WorkSafeBC has fined the Northern Health Authority $355,249 for failing to adequately complete workplace investigations related to safety.

According to the WorkSafeBC website, the agency inspected a long-term care facility in Fort St. John, B.C., in response to an incident of violence against a worker. The agency found the investigation reports for that incident and several past incidents "lacked key information such as underlying causes and corrective actions."

It also said the employer failed to ensure a report of its full investigation was prepared in accordance with WorkSafeBC guidelines.

"This was a repeated violation," the website read.

In a statement, Northern Health said it is working to improve its investigation platform to help staff report incidents more efficiently.

"Northern Health has a robust reporting process to address hazards and near-misses to support a strong safety culture and environment. Northern Health's injury rate is lower than the provincial health-care average, and NH continues work to advance the health and safety management system," the statement read.

"We hope to revisit proposals we had previously submitted to [WorkSafeBC] prior and during the pandemic that will address the administrative challenges we face from the current system."

Aman Grewal, president of the B.C. Nurses' Union (BCNU), said in a statement she is concerned the penalty is indicative of "systemic oversight" by health employers and the government when it comes to the issues of violence, health, and safety.

In 2021, there were 4,438 reported incidents of violence in B.C.'s health-care sector with 721 time-loss claims and WorkSafeBC compensation payouts of approximately $7 million.

In October, B.C. announced it will train 320 in-house protection service officers and 14 violence prevention leads to address increasing levels of workplace violence faced by health-care workers. 

"While the recent announcement of new protection security officers is a step in the right direction, this shows us there is much more that needs to happen within health authorities to make work sites safer for nurses and all health-care workers," Grewal said. 

The union is calling for an audit of all occupational health and safety reports over the past year.