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Guidelines Part 1
Guidelines Part 1 Contents
DEFINITIONS
Guidelines Part 1 - Definitions
G1.1 "Professional engineer"
Issued August 1, 1999; Editorial Revision October 14, 2004; Editorial Revision January 1, 2009
Regulatory excerpt
Section 1.1 of the OHS Regulation ("Regulation") states, in part:
"professional engineer" means a person who is registered or licensed to practice engineering under the provisions of the Engineers and Geoscientists Act.
Purpose of guideline
The purpose of this guideline is to provide additional information about WorkSafeBC's practices for engineering certificates.
Engineering certificate
WorkSafeBC prevention officers will treat as unacceptable any engineering certificate, approval, or design that does not comply with the regulations or an order or direction of WorkSafeBC, or a variance granted by WorkSafeBC.
The situation may arise where there appears to be compliance with the Regulation, or with a variance granted by WorkSafeBC, but a prevention officer feels the engineering is inadequate and could endanger a worker. In such cases, the prevention officer will not reject the engineering certification, approval, or design without authorization from his or her manager, and upon the recommendation of an engineer from the Engineering Section of WorkSafeBC.
The Engineering Section should be contacted for assistance in reviewing unclear, vague, and generally unprofessional engineering documents left on job sites for the purpose of compliance with the Regulation. The Engineering Section may initiate a formal complaint to the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC). Each potential complaint will be assessed on an individual basis. Before a complaint is made, a member of the Engineering Section will review the letter and attachments for each complaint. The reviewer will be an engineer who has had no direct dealings with the person named in the complaint on the matter at issue. The reviewer will comment on the content, completeness, and apparent reasonableness of the complaint.
As an engineer is generally working in and contributing to the production of an industry, a prevention officer may write orders on the engineer, and his or her firm, if the documents provided are inadequate and/or do not meet the requirements of the Regulation. See also OHS Guideline G20.78 regarding qualified registered professional's certificates, which may include an engineer's certificate for excavations.
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Disclaimer: The Worker and Employer Services Division issues Guidelines to help with the application and interpretation of sections of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and with divisions of the Workers Compensation Act that relate to health and safety. Guidelines are not intended to provide exclusive interpretations but to assist with compliance. WorkSafeBC ("Workers' Compensation Board of B.C.") does not warrant the accuracy or the completeness of the online version of the Guidelines and neither WorkSafeBC nor its board of directors, employees or agents shall be liable to any persons for any loss or damage of any nature, whether arising out of negligence or otherwise, which may be occasioned as a result of the use of the online version of the Guidelines.