WorkSafeBC has proposed the largest expansion of its regulatory authority in a generation — and gave B.C. employers eight weeks, in the middle of construction season, to notice. We are deeply concerned with their overreach.
The proposal creates a new "psychosocial hazard." It's defined to include "the design and management of work," the physical workplace, and the equipment in it. Every employer would have to write a risk assessment for each one, then cut the risk to "the lowest level practicable."
So basically, WorkSafe wants to decide how work is designed. How work is managed. Basically, your entire business.
A prevention officer would decide whether your crew size, your schedule, your workload and your deadlines reduced psychological risk far enough. Nobody can define that standard in advance. You'd learn where the line sits after the complaint is filed.
Now the cost. Psychological-injury-only claims reported to WorkSafeBC climbed from 5,443 in 2021 to 8,065 in 2025 — up 48 per cent — under the rules we already have. Claims costs hit $3.6 billion. ICBA Chief Economist Jock Finlayson expects premium increases starting as early as 2028.
Australia ran this experiment. Psychological claims in New South Wales have doubled since 2018. The main scheme lost $1.7 BILLION last year. Premiums are up 23 per cent, with a further 36 per cent hike on the table. When the NSW government tried to walk it back, it couldn't.
And none of this reaches the problem. Of the 28,593 violence-related claims B.C. accepted between 2015 and 2024, construction accounted for 299 — about 30 a year, one for every 8,000 workers.
B.C. has 28,173 construction companies. Ninety-two per cent employ fewer than 20 people. No HR department. No compliance staff. This lands on the owner, at night, after the work is done.
ICBA just sent our concerns to WorkSafeBC. You can read them here. We will be doing a lot more on this in the weeks to come.