Province fined over $700K for unsafe wildfire mitigation work in northern B.C.

The B.C. government has been fined more than $700,000 after an inspection determined unsafe wildfire mitigation practices were occurring at a site in the province's northeast.

The penalty issued on Oct. 26, 2023, by WorkSafeBC, the provincial agency that promotes safe and healthy workplaces across B.C., rings in at $710,488.79 — the largest fine it has ever issued, the agency says, and the maximum amount allowable for 2022, the year the incident occurred. 

WorkSafeBC's report says it found evidence of unsafe falling cuts at a site near Wonowon, around 80 kilometres northwest of Fort St. John, B.C., and said the province, which it refers to as the "employer," did not verify faller certification or actively monitor work as required.

Further details of the report are expected to be released publicly on Thursday, according to WorkSafeBC, but the province says no injuries were associated with the investigation. 

"As owner of a forestry operation, the employer failed to ensure all activities were both planned and conducted in a manner consistent with regulatory requirements and with safe work practices acceptable to WorkSafeBC," the penalty reads. 

WorkSafeBC says this the second penalty the province has been given in the past 10 years, the first being in 2019 for $5,574.53 after an employee was seriously injured while on the job installing a remote weather station at Loon Lake in the Cariboo region. 

In a statement to CBC News, the Ministry of Forests said it is "disappointed" by what happened, but plans to appeal the fine. 

"Our view is that the amount of penalty imposed is arbitrary and disproportionately high, as the penalty was calculated using the entire government of B.C.'s payroll for what we believe should be a specific location infraction," the statement reads. 

The province said the worker involved was a sub-contractor, not a provincial employee. It added that the work in question occurred between December 2022 and January 2023.

The statutory maximum penalty is adjusted annually. It was $710,488.79 in 2022, $759,368.84 in 2023 and has been set at $783,068.26 for 2024, according to WorkSafeBC. 

The agency's penalty amounts are usually based both on the size of the employer's payroll and the nature of the violation. But it says increased penalties can be handed down for high-risk circumstances, or if the employer has been penalized for something similar in the last three years. 

Wildfires have burned in the Wonowon area over the past few summers, including the enormous 6,190-square kilometre Donnie Creek wildfire — the largest recorded in the province's history — that tore through northeastern B.C. last year. 

The ministry said it is working with contractors and sub-contractors to ensure safety standards are being met. 

The province says contractors are required to be Safety Accord Forest Enterprise certified — which means they'd have their own safety programs to meet WorkSafeBC regulations.