Changes cover equipment certification, autolifts and respirator seals
WorkSafeBC's Board of Directors approved three sets of amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation (OHSR) at its July 2026 meeting, covering periodic equipment certification, automotive lifts and respirator face seal rules, WorkSafeBC announced.
The changes were posted for public feedback before being finalized.
The largest change consolidates rules requiring certain equipment to be periodically certified "safe for use" under a new core section, 4.12.3. WorkSafeBC said the goal is to "clarify what 'certified safe for use' means in a periodic certification context" and to "reduce the risk of equipment failure."
The amendments harmonize six existing OHSR provisions covering elevating work platforms, mobile cranes, crane booms, self-erecting tower cranes, concrete pumping equipment and fire department aerial devices. They also expand periodic certification to all tower cranes, not just self-erecting models.
WorkSafeBC's notes cite British Columbia's "aging inventory of tower cranes, with the average age being 30 years," and flag "non-compliant modifications" made to install anti-collision devices on older cranes. Manufacturers and their agents are removed as parties who may issue certifications, since WorkSafeBC said this work "is done almost exclusively by professional engineers in British Columbia." These changes take effect Sept. 1, 2027.
Automotive lift standards
The board separately approved amendments to Part 12 governing automotive lifts. The list of recognized construction standards expands from a single 1998 ANSI standard to five ANSI/ALI editions plus two European EN standards.
Lifts built to older, unlisted standards may keep operating only if they pass inspections every four months and every 12 months by qualified inspectors. Beginning March 1, 2030, those lifts must also be certified under the new section 4.12.3 at least once every three years.
Autolifts are common equipment in "car dealerships, auto body repair shops, and general garage, muffler, and gas stations," according to WorkSafeBC. Workers under a raised lift are in "one of the few places where workers are permitted to work under a suspended load," the notes state. These amendments take effect March 1, 2027.
Respirator face seal requirements
The third package amends Part 8 provisions on respirator face seal, fit testing and user seal checks. It introduces a defined term, "tight-fitting respirator," to replace repeated references to "a respirator which requires an effective seal with the face."
The amendments remove a requirement that workers be "clean shaven" where a respirator seals with the face. WorkSafeBC said the change "will not impact the current health and safety requirements" and that the section "will continue to encompass all types of interferences, including hair, cloth, jewellery, temples on eyeglasses, and other material."
A virtual public hearing on the Part 8 changes was held Nov. 25, 2025, and WorkSafeBC said the proposals were revised based on that feedback. These amendments take effect Nov. 6, 2026.
WorkSafeBC said it is considering further OHS guidelines to support employers applying the new requirements across all three regulation packages.
