How to Maintain A COR

• Maintenance audits occur in the two years following the certification year. 
• Employers may use either a Maintenance Option or a Maintenance Audit .
• Maintenance Audits must evaluate all operations of the company. Employers may hire an external auditor, or an employee can receive training to become an internal certified auditor to conduct the maintenance audit. 

Timing of Maintenance Audits 

• Every COR is issued for a specific period and the certificate may be valid for three years, one year or six months.
• A maintenance audit requires a 60% overall score to pass and to maintain the COR certificate. 

COR Maintenance OptionS

Action Plans

An employer may request approval from Energy Safety Canada to use an Action Plan in lieu of conducting a maintenance audit to maintain their COR, provided the company meets the necessary requirements. In some cases, employers may find it more valuable to focus their resources on implementing Action Plan items rather than conducting annual maintenance audits. Action Plans are designed to introduce measurable and meaningful improvements to the employer’s occupational health and safety (OHS) management system.

For more information on Action Plans please see the Action Plan Procedure.

Action Plan Forms

Audit Plan Application –2022 Action Plan Applications will be opened starting January 1, 2022. To review Action Plan eligibility requirements, review pages 4 and 5 of the Action Plan Policy.  If your application is including multi-companies, all companies must meet the criteria to be eligible, including having completed one full three year COR audit cycle.

Note:  WorkSafeBC is not participating in the Action Plan Program for 2022.

Action Plan Proposal/Submission Template
Please download and save the file to your computer to complete the form.

Important Deadlines

• Application must be submitted prior by January 31, of the calendar year in which the maintenance audit is due
• Proposed action plans must be submitted by March 31, of the calendar year in which the maintenance audit is due
• Amendments, if required, must be submitted prior to October 31, of the calendar year in which the maintenance audit is due
• Action Plan deliverables are due on or before December 31, of the calendar year in which the maintenance audit is due
• For the November/December deadline, the employer must submit the completed Action Plan, together with documentation providing evidence of the completion of the project deliverables, to Energy Safety Canada by December 31 of the maintenance year. Energy Safety Canada is encouraging companies to submit by November 30 to give sufficient time for the review process

Resources

The following guidelines and recorded sessions are available to guide employers on the two phases of the Action Plan program. 

• Action Plan Guidance Proposal – March 31
• Building your Action Plan Recorded Session (37 min) - March
• Action Plan Guidance Submission – November/December
• Action Plan Submission Recorded Session (12 min) – November/December

COR Equivalency for ISO and CSA

Employers certified to meet either the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) standards for occupational health and safety (OHS) management systems, are eligible to apply to Energy Safety Canada for Certificate of Recognition (COR) certification.

Please note:  British Columbia is currently not participating in the ISO/CSA Equivalency Program.

COR-Equivalency-Application-for-ISO-or-CSA-Certification

COR-Equivalency-for-ISO-CSA Certification

Baseline Audits

A baseline audit determines the extent and limitations of an employer's current safety program. This audit provides information concerning areas of the safety program that require upgrading.