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As an adjudicative tribunal, the board is independent of the British Columbia Safety Authority, the regulated industries and any body such as a local government responsible for administering the provisions of the Act.
While the chair is responsible to the appointing authority for the board's performance, the board operates at arms length from the government in its decision-making capacity.
Purpose
The board's purpose is to resolve appeals from decisions of safety officers and safety managers to determine if the decisions were fairly made in accordance with the provisions of the Safety Standards Act and regulations, consistent with the maintenance and enhancement of public safety.
The board's objective is to carry out its work in a just, consistent, timely and cost-efficient manner.
Composition
The board consists of three vice-chairs and a number of part-time members.
The chair is appointed by the Minister after a merit-based process for an initial term of three years.
The vice-chairs and other members are appointed by the Minister, after a merit-based process and in consultation with the chair, for an initial term of two or three years.
The board members bring with them a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives, as well as expertise in the technical areas regulated by the Act.
The chair is responsible for the administration of the board and organizing it into panels consisting of one or more members to manage and hear appeals. A panel of the board has all the powers and duties of the board and any order, decision or action of a panel is considered to be an order, decision or action of the board.
Where the chair or a member of a panel becomes aware of any facts that would lead an informed person viewing the matter reasonably and practically to conclude that a member would, consciously or unconsciously, not decide a matter fairly, the member will not conduct the appeal unless consent is obtained from all parties.
Communications with the board
To ensure that the appeal process is kept open and fair to the participants, any correspondence directed to the board in relation to an appeal must be sent to the board’s office and be copied to all other parties to the appeal. Correspondence should be addressed to the registrar at the board’s office, and not to board members. See separate note.
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