Worksafe BC Avalanche Safety Plan

Occupational Health and Safety

BC has the most developed regulatory mechanisms that focused on avalanche risks and controls. Pursuant to the BC Workers Compensation Act, Section 4.1.1 of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulations sets out a series of specific rules that speak to snow avalanche risk assessments and subsequent actions.

Section 4.1.1(2) of BC’s OHS Regulations state that if a person working in a workplace may be exposed to a risk associated with an avalanche, the employer must undertake an avalanche risk assessment before any work is carried out at that workplace. If the assessment indicates that a person working at the workplace will be exposed to avalanche risk, the employer must then ensure that a written ASP is developed and implemented.

BC Mines Health, Safety and Reclamation Code

Similarly, Section 3.3.6 of the BC Mines Act Health, Safety and Reclamation Code (Page 124), states that a written avalanche risk assessment must be conducted in accordance with the Technical Aspects of Snow Avalanche Risk Management (CAA, 2016).

If avalanche risk is found to exceed thresholds for worker safety provided in CAA (2016) then qualified professionals are required to develop an ASP (referred to as an avalanche safety program in the Code) that includes monitoring of weather, snow, and avalanche conditions, and implementation of closures, temporary evacuations or other measures.

Canadian Labour Code

Elsewhere in Canada Section 215 of the Canada Labour Code provides a list of employer duties applicable to avalanche risk that includes: “ To develop, implement and monitor, in consultation with the policy or workplace committee or health and safety representative, a prescribed program for the prevention of hazards in the work place appropriate to its size and the nature of the hazards in it that also provides for the education of employees in health and safety matters.”