Certificate of Recognition (COR)

COR certification helps employers meet and stay up to date with legislative health and safety requirements, positioning your company as a workplace leader dedicated to continual improvement in safety standards.

Demonstrating a commitment to safe operations and employee well-being sends a positive message to the community, enhancing your corporate reputation and strengthening relationships with suppliers and customers.

Attract and retain employees who prioritize safety, fostering a team culture that actively promotes and maintains a safe work environment.

An organization’s insurance rates are influenced by their ‘Experience Rating’, which is a similar concept to receiving a no-claims bonus or a surcharge according to past performance. By proactively improving health and safety practices and effectively managing claims and return-to-work procedures, you can secure additional discounts that go beyond the industry base rate over time.

Audits utilize three methods of collecting data – documentation, interviews, and observation (DIO). Each site visit must consist of at least observations and site-specific record review (if the records were not already reviewed at the main office). Depending on the complexity of the company, it may not be necessary to perform interviews at all sites that are visited.

An organization’s audits must encompass a representative sample of all operations, activities and facilities within its control where permanent, casual or temporary staff may work, where relevant activities are running at a minimum of 70% operating capacity. As part of the background information gathering process, all operations, locations and sites should be outlined and assessed to determine which to include in the audit, during which season.

Your organization may have different types of operation. For example, if you are a ski area, you may also have accommodation and food and beverage services. Depending on how your organization is registered with WorkSafeBC (i.e. which Classification Units (CUs) your WorkSafeBC Account is registered in), you may have the option to audit all or just some of your operations.

Your organization may have different operating locations. For example, if you are a restaurant chain, you may have multiple locations across BC. During the audit planning stage, you must communicate with go2HR to help ensure all locations are correctly identified.

For the purposes of COR audits, a “work site” will be defined as “any location where a worker is, or is likely to be, engaged in any occupation for their employer.” For example, a hotel may be listed as a company’s official location. Meanwhile, the restaurant across the street, at an entirely different address, is also thought to be part of the overall location. In this case, the auditor would need to cover both the hotel and restaurant, since the activities undertaken at each site are very different.

Some outdoor hospitality operations are seasonal in nature, such as those that relate to snow sports or golf. In these cases, seasonality must be taken into consideration, with the audit performed when the relevant activities are running at a minimum of 70% operating capacity. This helps ensure that the audit is representative of how the company operates during their “normal business” times. While it is recognized that this is often the least convenient time for an audit, it is an unavoidable requirement.

A certifying partner is an organization that, through agreement with WorkSafeBC, helps guide employers toward a Certificate of Recognition (COR), which certifies that the employer has implemented a safety management system that meets established standards as verified by an audit.

Certifying partners are typically safety associations recognized by WorkSafeBC as having in-depth industry knowledge that is used to promote and develop workplace health and safety; there are different certifying partners for different industries. Once an employer registers with a certifying partner, the employer is first helped to implement an effective health and safety management system, then to complete and pass a qualifying audit.

Quality assurance is a crucial component of the COR program. In essence, an external auditor will audit your Safety Management System; go2HR audits the external auditors to ensure they are auditing in accordance with go2HR standards; and WorkSafeBC audits go2HR to ensure our COR program meets their standards.

COR is open to all employers in BC. Employers can choose which CP they want to certify through but it’s recommended that they go through the CP for their industry (if there is one). go2HR is the certifying partner for the tourism and hospitality industry and we also work with other naturally aligned industries, including commercial cleaning, janitorial, and industrial camp operations. These industries aren’t directly served by any one certifying partner.

Other than tourism and hospitality, industries such as forestry, oil and gas, construction, food processing and manufacturing, farming and ranching, and trucking, as well as municipal employers, are all currently involved in the COR program and have certifying partner organizations in each sector.

You can choose to include one or multiple Classification Units (CUs) in your COR audit. The incentive received for successfully completing the audit will be based on your company’s reported assessable payroll for the CUs included in the audit.

In order to qualify for COR, a certification audit is completed by an external auditor for large employers (20 or more employees) or by an internal auditor for small employers (fewer than 20 employees). To pass this audit, a total score of 80% must attained, and a minimum of 50% must be scored on each audit element.

This certification is valid for three years provided in the two years following certification, the same audit process is used to complete an internal or maintenance audit The main purpose of the internal/maintenance audit is to identify and correct deficiencies in the management system.

By participating in the COR Program, you can help keep your employees safe and healthy while saving your company time and money. There is a strong business case for having a well-functioning safety management system, which is well worth the return on investment. COR certified employees can receive an annual rebate or credit of up to 10% of their base WorkSafeBC premiums.

Additionally, your individual insurance rate is influenced by your ‘Experience Rating’ which is a similar concept to receiving a no-claims bonus or a surcharge according to past performance.

By proactively improving health and safety practices and effectively managing claims and return-to-work procedures, you can secure additional discounts that go beyond the industry base rate over time.

On the flip side, a reactive approach to health and safety and poor claims and injury management practices means that some employers will be paying more than the industry base rate.

The cost of an external audit depends on the size of the company being audited. Due to sampling requirements, the larger the company, the more employees or sites that must be interviewed and observed. go2HR has established a maximum $550 daily fee for external auditor charges.

Any fees associated with travel or expenses must be negotiated between the company and the external auditor. The other cost is a $199 (plus tax) fee for internal auditor training if you opt to have a staff member trained and certified.

If your total score is between 70% and 79% you may be eligible to conduct a Limited Scope Audit (LSA) within 90 days of the original audit date. This limited-scope audit will allow the employer to focus on specific elements that received low scores during the initial audit. If your score is 69% or lower, you must undergo another complete audit at a later date.

After a period of no less than 90 days, the company may hire an external auditor for a complete audit. It is recommended to address any identified deficiencies before scheduling an external audit again to increase your chances of success.

The COR certification is valid for three years less one day from the date of certification, provided the employer performs internal maintenance audits in the second and third years. An external audit is required in year 4 to complete the re-certification audit.

You may already meet many or all of the COR audit requirements. In other cases, businesses may need some time to implement the various elements of the program before going ahead with the certification audit.

WorkSafeBC has listed the following circumstances in which a company may not be eligible for an incentive, or in which the incentive may be placed on hold until the issues are resolved:

• The company has engaged in activity that would cause WorkSafeBC to consider imposing an administrative penalty, or if it has already imposed one.
• The company has suppressed claims for compensation or has suppressed claims costs.
• The company has an outstanding balance related to its WorkSafeBC employer account.
• The company has failed to register with WorkSafeBC.
• The company has engaged in other misconduct considered by WorkSafeBC to be inconsistent with participation in the COR program.

Yes, as long as your company maintains its COR status, you will receive an annual 10%  financial incentive for completing the Occupational Health and Safety COR audit.

Companies will begin receiving their COR rebate in June of the year following their COR certification or maintenance audits. Whether you successfully complete the COR audit in January or December, you will receive your COR rebate in June of the following year.

While trained and certified by go2HR, external auditors are independent consultants selected and paid for by the companies requesting their services. Review the profiles of go2HR’s certified external auditors, then request quotes and references before making a decision. The Auditor Code of Ethics in our Policy and Procedures manual prohibits a safety consultant who helps develop a company’s safety program from acting as its external auditor.

The individual attending the training should be a permanent employee of the organization who is familiar with all aspects of your safety management system.

The certification belongs to the individual who completed the training. If you wish to continue to perform the maintenance audits internally, you must send another representative to attend the training.