1. What is this ‘maintenance audit’ that my success letter and the reminder I got in the mail talking about?
2. Nothing changed really. Don’t you have all this stuff already?
3. Why do I have to spend time submitting another binder every year? I thought certification was good for 3 years.
4. When do I have to get my maintenance audit in by?
5. What if I do not get my maintenance audit in before my anniversary date? Do I apply for some kind of extension?
6. When I got my success letter, it said my next audit was due Dec 31st. Now I get a letter saying some other date. Why?
7. What if I’m late past year-end with my maintenance audit?
8. So what exactly do you mean by ‘submit’ and ‘year-end’ and ‘late’? Is there any wiggle-room?
9. I worked this year, but it wasn’t in forestry or I had to temporarily go back to being an employee instead of an IOO. What do I do?
10. I have not worked so far this year since my last audit. What do I do?
11. I haven’t worked this year and I know I am not going to work before year-end. What do I do?
    
12. Where do I send my audit package? I thought I saw something about the Council moving.

Q – What is this ‘maintenance audit’ that my success letter and the reminder I got in the mail talking about?
A – Every year, you need to submit essentially the same package as your certification package. It includes all the audit forms and checklists along with all the data, just like the original certification package.

Q – Nothing changed really. Don’t you have all this stuff already?
A – No, we cannot keep copies of all submissions. With several thousand companies submitting a binder every year, we would quickly run out of space. Even if nothing did change, we also need you to show that for each question

Q – Why do I have to spend time submitting another binder every year? I thought certification was good for 3 years.
A – Every year you need to maintain your certification by submitting a maintenance audit report to show that you continue to operate your system. While the report looks the same, it is evaluated less strictly and even if you are a few points short of meeting the standard, your certification is not removed. You can use the same binder and tabs, just swapping out the old records for new ones and keeping the pages that did not change right in the binder.

Q – When do I have to get my maintenance audit in by?
A – The preferred date to get this in by is the anniversary of your certification. This allows you to keep in time with the 3-year recertification audit which MUST be submitted by the exact 3 year anniversary. The absolute latest date is the end of the year in order to maintain SAFE certification and COR rebate eligibility.

Q – What if I do not get my maintenance audit in before my anniversary date? Do I apply for some kind of extension?
A – No, just submit your audit at your earliest convenience before year-end. There is no extension process for maintenance audits.

Q - When I got my success letter, it said my next audit was due Dec 31st. Now I get a letter saying some other date. Why?
A - Due to the 3-year cycle we are recommending companies keep close to a 12-month audit period. This also lets Council serve you more cost-effectively by smoothing out a huge year-end rush that significantly delays processing of all year-end audits. We had not anticipated such a large demand from the forestry industry when we first set up the program, so did not include that advice in early letters.

Q – What if I’m late past year-end with my maintenance audit?
A – If you do not submit one by year-end, you will be removed from the SAFE-certified list and will not be eligible for a 10% Certificate of Recognition (COR) rebate on your 2009 WorkSafeBC premiums. You will be put back on the SAFE-certified list as soon as you submit a maintenance audit in 2010, but the 10% COR rebate cannot be recovered for 2009.

Q – So what exactly do you mean by ‘submit’ and ‘year-end’ and ‘late’? Is there any wiggle-room?
A – Submitting means the postmarked or courier acceptance date on the package, or if you deliver by hand it means the date it arrives at our office. For BASE Companies, the date is the date your auditor finishes the field work and leaves your site. Year-end is Friday, Dec 31, 2009. Your post office or courier may have restricted operating hours on Dec 31 this year, since many businesses will be closed in lieu of New Years Day on the Saturday. Council office will be open for receiving until 5pm on Friday Dec 31, 2009. This is a hard deadline. 2009 Audits postmarked after Dec 31, 2009 will be considered ‘late’.

Q – I worked this year, but it wasn’t in forestry or I had to temporarily go back to being an employee instead of an IOO. What do I do?
A – You can submit your maintenance audit based on your non-forestry work or work as an employee. Your company safety system should operate the same hauling gravel as it does hauling logs and a pre-work meeting should be held before a construction dig the same as when starting a new harvesting block. Those records show your safety system is still functioning.

Q – I have not worked so far this year since my last audit. What do I do?
A – Wait until mid-December to submit in case you get work. Submit an audit if you got work or see next question if you did not.

Q – I haven’t worked this year and I know I am not going to work before year-end. What do I do?
A – Send us a signed letter explaining that you have had “zero assessable payroll in all of 2009 for the WorkSafeBC Account and Classification Unit for which you were certified”, listing the details of your company, WSBC Account and CU number(s) and we will keep your certification active and your name on the SAFE-certified list for another year. We will verify your zero payroll account with WorkSafeBC. You would not get any COR rebate, since 10% of no payroll is a $0 rebate cheque.

Q - Where do I send my audit package? I thought I saw something about the Council moving.
A – The Nanaimo office (only) of the Council is moving Nov 1st, 2009 in order to better serve the several thousands of forestry and forestry-related companies that use our services.

• Before Nov 1st, send your audit to: #103 – 65 Front Street, Nanaimo, V9R 5H9.
• After Nov 1st, send it to our new address of: 420 Albert Street, Nanaimo, V9R 2V7.

  All our current phone numbers and e-mail addresses are staying the same.