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By Adam Berls

northern health

Northern Health fined over $350,000

Dec 6, 2022 | 4:10 PM

PRINCE GEORGE — The Northern Health Authority has been issued an administrative penalty of over $350,000 by WorkSafe BC.

The BC Nurses Union says “that the penalty was issued for failing to conduct adequate workplace inspections following reports from nurses and other health care workers about ongoing safety issues”.

In a statement to CKPG News, WorkSafeBC says that they “examined the employer’s investigation reports for this and several previous incidents and found that they all lacked key information such as underlying causes and corrective actions. The employer failed to ensure that a report of its full incident investigation was prepared in accordance with WorkSafeBC policies.” The total of the penalty was $355,244.39.

The union says that this is not unique to Northern Health and that other health authorities in the province have been issued similar fines.

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WorkSafe BC confirms that they issue was a repeat violation and that they will monitor the situation to ensure that inspections are held accordingly.

Northern Health released this statement in regards to the fine:

“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 healthcare average, and NH continues work to advance the health and safety management system.

In Peace Villa, our measurable rates are trending positively, such as reduced violent interactions. The Peace Villa team continues to improve investigations (including information identified by WorkSafeBC as key for the report, such as job titles and phone numbers), with additional training and on-going support from their Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee.

We are committed to ensuring compliance with BC Occupational Health and Safety Regulations and will be assessing the penalty and continuing to provide WSBC additional information about the work we have completed between the issuing of the order and the penalty that was given. We hope to re-visit proposals we had previously submitted to WSBC prior and during the pandemic that will address the administrative challenges we face from the current system. That proposal included plans to invest and improve the provincial incident investigation platform to support our staff in reporting efficiently and generating thorough investigation reports.”