Managing Safety Risks: Compliance and Enforcement
Compliance and enforcement
When technical or administrative non-compliances are identified, our first step is often to work with duty holders to help them understand their obligations, and provide them with a clear pathway to resolution. However, when these interventions don't achieve the desired result, Technical Safety BC may take enforcement action to achieve compliance.
Highest monetary penalty in 2021
Compliance orders issued in 2021
Compliance audits conducted in 2021
Compliance and enforcement actions
In 2021, we conducted 229 compliance and enforcement actions, of which 117 were compliance orders and 14 were compliance audits. Other compliance and enforcement activities include 77 warning notices issued, 16 monetary penalties, and five discipline orders. No bonds were called this year.
Action Definitions
| Bonds Show more |
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Surety bonds are financial guarantees required to obtain both gas and electrical contractor licences. In certain circumstances, a safety manager may “call the bond,” requiring the funds to be applied to correct non-compliances. |
| Compliance orders Show more |
| Documents issued to a person or company by a Technical Safety BC safety officer or safety manager that specifies actions to be taken, stopped, or modified |
| Compliance audits Show more |
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A systematic documented process in which Technical Safety BC gathers and evaluates evidence to determine the extent to which the duty holder (auditee) is complying with the requirements of the Safety Standards Act and Regulations (the audit criteria). |
| Warning notices Show more |
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Documents issued to a person or company by Technical Safety BC identifying non-compliant behaviour and further advising that future non-compliance of a similar nature may result in progressive enforcement action. |
| Monetary penalties Show more |
| Administrative penalties issued by a Technical Safety BC safety manager to a person or company for specific non-compliance(s) in amounts up to a maximum of $100,000. |
| Discipline order Show more |
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A document issued by a Technical Safety BC provincial safety manager to a person or company performing regulated work who: (1) is in breach of a condition of, or restriction on, any licence or permission; (2) practices in a discipline under the Safety Standards Act for which the contractor is not licensed or qualified; (3) fails to comply with a compliance order or safety order; (4) fails to comply with a requirement, term or condition of an Alternative Safety Approach, or; (5) is convicted of an offense under the Safety Standards Act. |
| Duty holder Show more |
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A person or company who is responsible for compliance because they either own regulated products or perform regulated work. |
Compliance and Enforcement by Technology in 2021
Compliance audit
Our compliance audits play an important role in our safety oversight. Technical Safety BC selects candidates in fairness and transparency. The following criteria illustrates how we segment our audits and then impartially distribute them across all technologies and in the contractor community. The criteria is organized into three distinct categories for determining compliance audits:
- Random: An independent computer algorithm randomly selects a sample of contractor license data within all technologies, in all regions, on an annual basis.
- Investigation: Analysis of the following indicators:
- the average rate of obtaining permits in a given period of time compared to industry average and other companies of same size and scope
- the number of non-compliances associated with a licence
- the hazard level associated with any non-compliance(s)
- the company’s payroll compared with their permitting activities
- other factors such as previous enforcement history and the effectiveness of previous enforcement.
- Compliance Monitoring: When enforcement action does not achieve the desired behavioural effect, a deeper dive into the duty holders activities is warranted. Audits on repeat offenders will reveal the root cause of why the non-compliant behaviour continues.
Audits by Category in 2021
Compliance and Enforcement by Year (2017-2021)
Monetary penalties in 2021
While legislation empowers us to issue a monetary penalty at any time in the enforcement process, we use our discretion when doing so. In fact, we only issue monetary penalties after warning notices or compliance orders did not secure compliance, or when compliance was breached.
To provide transparency and understanding of where we are taking action, the following chart lists the monetary penalties issued in 2021. Most of these penalties were issued to those in the gas or electrical technologies.
|
Duty Holder |
Technology |
Category |
Value |
|---|---|---|---|
|
AL Thompson d.b.a. Total Heating |
Gas |
Failure to comply with a discipline order |
Daily penalty of $250, Total of $16,500 |
|
Northland Mechanical Contracting Ltd. |
Boiler & Pressure Vessel |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$3,000 |
|
Mario Alberto Ponte |
Gas |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$2,000 |
|
Brad Penny d.b.a Living Big Tiny Home Company |
Electrical |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
Daily penalty of $200, Total of $6,000 |
|
Pacific West Mechanical Ltd. |
Boiler & Pressure Vessel |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$500 |
|
Milani Plumbing Heating & Air Conditioning Ltd. |
Boiler & Pressure Vessel |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$7,500 |
|
Bricor Mechanical Ltd. |
Boiler & Pressure Vessel |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$2,000 |
|
Lillie Family Heating & Plumbing (2014) Ltd. |
Boiler & Pressure Vessel |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$3,000 |
|
Fraser Plumbing & Heating Ltd. |
Gas |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$5,000 |
|
Sim Electric Inc. |
Electrical |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$5,000 |
|
Michael Fader d.b.a. Fader Industries |
Gas |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$36,000 |
|
Household Heating Ltd. |
Gas |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$6,000 |
|
BMB Signs Ltd. |
Electrical |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$13,000 |
|
Troy McMillan d.b.a. McMillan’s Plumbing and Heating |
Gas |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
$500 |
|
C.T. Control Temp Ltd. |
Refrigeration |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
Daily penalty of $250 Total of $12,000 |
|
Tycor Climate Control Inc. |
Gas |
Failure to comply with a compliance order |
Daily penalty of $250 Total of $12,000 |