Assessments
Annual State of Safety 2024
State of Safety: Assessments
Assessments help us confirm that owners and duty holders are complying with the Safety Standards Act and associated regulations. We use a combination of advanced analytics and human decision-making to find the most significant sources of potential harm to British Columbians. This helps us target places with the highest risk while optimizing efficiency and scale.
In the electrical and gas technologies, every installation permit assessment request received is first assessed by a predictive algorithm which determines the probability of a moderate or high hazard being found. Safety officers then use this information and their expertise to determine the appropriate type of assessment, whether it’s an accepted declaration, remote assessment, or in-person physical assessment.
49,705
total physical and remote assessments completed in 2024
4,488
total hazards found during assessments in 2024
82%
pass rate in 2024
Undervalued Permits
In 2024, we sharpened our focus on the grey market. The grey market is made up of individuals or companies who perform, or authorize the performance of, unlicensed, unpermitted and/or uncertified work in BC. We specifically looked at cases where permits may be undervalued, which could lead to gaps in how we identify the level of risk tied to the work performed. By improving permit valuation and in turn, our compliance oversight, we ensure the scope of regulated work is accurately captured and that fees are charged fairly. This allows us to create a “level playing field” for our clients and the public across British Columbia. In 2024, we launched a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of amending permit scope and value while educating contractors about audit and enforcement actions for non-compliance. We saw 1,069 amendments on permits through this campaign.
Shared Accountability
Safety is a shared responsibility, and we are working to provide more tools for our clients to show accountability for their work. In the boilers, pressure vessels, and refrigeration (BPVR) technology, we provided duty holders access to the “declarations accepted” process, similar to the process for our electrical and gas technologies, to better facilitate participation in the safety system and strengthen industry accountability.
By working together with our clients and safety partners, we will continue to reduce risks, enhance public safety, and promote a proactive safety culture across the province.
Understanding our Assessment Approach
Assessments versus Inspections
Assessments refer to our evaluation of whether a system or equipment possesses safety risk. We use any combination of the different tools available to us when evaluating safety – from video calling to checking submitted documents, using predictive machine learning, and more. Onsite inspections are a type of assessment where safety officers perform physical inspections in places where high hazards are more likely to be found.
In-Person and Remote Assessments
We use a combination of physical, in-person assessments and remote assessments to support our mandate. Remote assessments are performed by safety officers and allow us to increase our reach and presence, especially in outlying parts of BC. When combined with physical, in-person assessments, remote assessments are useful in detecting areas of high hazards, while helping us improve client experience and reduce our environmental impact.
Structured Resource Allocation
Risk-based oversight refers to using data and insight tools to find regulated work with a higher chance of safety hazard or risk. The structured resource allocation framework, made up of five drivers, determines how we assess regulated work and equipment.
- We use a machine learning model that takes data from past assessments, adds real-time data, and applies the expertise of people and machine learning to predict areas with higher safety risk.
- We identify and assess a representative sample of permits in order to draw broader conclusions about risk.
- We establish policies that identify areas where our tolerance for risk is low and assess all systems that fall within those policies.
- Our safety officers use their expertise, local knowledge, and discretion in determining where hazards may lie.
- We gather and address hazard notifications from the public.
Remote Assessments
Similar to audits, remote assessments usually include a review of photos, videos, and other documentation, as well as communication with the client through phone calls, video calls, and email. While a safety officer is reviewing documents and communicating with clients virtually, a remote assessment is not categorized as an in-person assessment.
In-Person Assessments
In-person assessments refer to safety officers assessing or inspecting work on site.
Compliance of Duty Holders' Work
A duty holder is a person who owns regulated products or performs regulated work.
They have a responsibility to comply with the Safety Standards Act, regulations, and any applicable technical code associated with the products they own, or work they perform.
When assessing a duty holder’s work, our safety officers provide one of the following ratings: pass, conditional pass, or fail, except in the electrical; gas; boilers, pressure vessels, and refrigeration technologies, which do not have a conditional pass category.
Learn more about these ratings and applying for assessments.
Physical Assessments
In 2024, safety officers completed 29,823 physical assessments. Failure rates for the electrical; gas; boilers, pressure vessels, and refrigeration technologies remained similar to the previous year.
Safety officers in the electrical technology performed 15,577 physical assessments. Of these, 11,818 passed while 3,759 failed. This represents a failure rate of 24% which was similar to the failure rate of 25% in the previous year.
Likewise, the boilers, pressure vessels, and refrigeration technology saw a 26% failure rate, versus the 23% failure rate in 2023, in a total of 4,274 physical assessments performed. Of these, 3,176 assessments passed and 1,098 failed.
The gas technology saw the highest failure rate among the technologies at 32%, versus 31% last year, when safety officers performed 6,685 physical assessments. Of these assessments, 4,575 passed and 2,110 failed. These technologies do not use a “conditional pass” in their assessment results.
Safety officers in the elevating technology performed 2,686 physical assessments, where 1,321 passed, 1,032 conditionally passed, and 333 failed. This represents a failure rate of 12, similar to the 11% failure rate last year.
Two hundred physical assessments were completed in the passenger ropeways technology, where 27 passed, 150 conditionally passed, and 23 failed, representing a failure rate of 12%.
Safety officers performed 401 physical assessments in the amusement devices technology, where 65 passed, 287 conditionally passed, and 49 failed. The failure rate increased for this technology to 12%, versus 6% last year, as safety officers shifted away from using “conditionally passed” as an outcome.
Compliance of Duty Holder's Work in 2024
(Physical Assessment)
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Hazards Found by Category in 2024
(Physical Assessment)
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Remote Assessments
In 2024, safety officers completed 19,882 remote assessments. Failure rates across all technologies remained constant.
Safety officers in the electrical technology performed 12,026 remote assessments. Of these, 11,274 passed while 752 failed. This represents a failure rate of 6% which was the same as the previous year.
The boilers, pressure vessels, and refrigeration technology saw 1,640 remote assessments, where 1,451 passed and 189 failed, representing a failure rate of 12%, versus 13% last year.
Safety officers in the gas technology completed 5,694 remote assessments, where 5,102 passed and 592 failed. The failure rate of 10% is similar to last year’s failure rate of 11%.
Four hundred and eighty remote assessments were performed in the elevating technology, where 456 passed, six conditionally passed, and 18 failed, representing a failure rate of 4% compared to 6% last year.
The passenger ropeways technology saw 12 remote assessments, where two passed and ten conditionally passed. The 100% pass rate is the same as last year.
Thirty remote assessments were conducted in the amusement devices technology, where 15 passed, 12 conditionally passed, and three failed. The 10% failure rate is the same as the previous year.
Compliance of Duty Holder's Work in 2024
(Remote Assessment)
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Hazards Found, by Category in 2024
(Remote Assessment)
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