Appeals Before the Board of Directors

August 29, 2005 - November 21, 2005

GC-05-02

General Information

1. Section 82 of the Act gives an employer the right to appeal to the Board of Directors any decision made by the board relating to assessments.

2. Section 55 of the Act permits any party to an action, on notice to all other parties to the action, to apply to the Board of Directors for a determination of whether the right of action is removed by the Act.

3. Section 112(5) of the Act gives the Board of Directors the authority and power to examine, enquire into, and hear any matter previously dealt with and gives it the power to rescind or vary any decision or order previously made.

4. Section 113(6) of the Act gives the Board of Directors the authority to stay a decision of an Appeal Panel and direct a new hearing before a new panel if it considers that the Appeal Panel did not properly apply the Act or a policy of the board.

5. Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, workers, employers or trade unions representing workers may appeal the following occupational health and safety matters to an Appeal Panel:

decisions;
orders or refusals to give orders;
administrative penalties.

6. Under section 28(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Board of Directors may on its own motion reconsider any decision or order made by it or an Appeal Panel; and may vary or revoke the decision or order at any time within twenty one (21) days after the day on which the decision or order was made.

7. A party may apply to the Board of Directors for a reconsideration of a previous Appeal Panel decision. The party must clearly set out the reasons for requesting the reconsideration. A reconsideration will only be granted when:

• the party has new substantive evidence sufficient to change the original Appeal Panel decision; or,
• the party can show that the Appeal Panel misinterpreted the relevant legislation or policy.

The request must be submitted on the approved form with the requested information. The request must be submitted within twenty-one (21) days of receiving the original Appeal Panel decision.

Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to provide a basic framework for the administration of the appeal process. The policy includes general information concerning appeals related to:

• employer assessments; and
• occupational health and safety matters.