Stephen Hunt was optimistic when we spoke with him in mid October. The Western Canada district director for the United Steelworkers Union (USW) in B.C., he seemed confident that his organization’s plan to prosecute a company for criminal workplace-safety negligence would succeed.

But if history is any indication, USW may face significant challenges.

Last February, the Canadian health and safety community saw something it has not seen in a relatively long time (since 2007, to be more precise): a company charged with criminal negligence under Bill C-45 following a workplace death.

The United Steelworkers (USW) has launched a private prosecution against Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd. last week, claiming that the British Columbia-based firm was criminally negligent in the death of 55-year-old sawmill worker, Lyle Hewer, on November 17, 2004.

In what should serve as a stark reminder for both employers and individuals, police in Ontario recently charged a corporate employer and two individuals with criminal negligence causing death after a fatal workplace accident at a construction project. 

It has long been my experience, as a lawyer advising clients on occupational health and safety and environmental law matters, that environmental regulators seem to be more focused on getting effective results through prosecution than do OHS regulators.

In a number of OHS prosecutions over the years, the prosecutors were much more focused on securing a conviction and extracting a large fine, than it was on remedying the underlying cause of the unsafe act and/or worker injury. They relied on blunt instrument of general deterrents to justify this approach.

The recent criminal conviction and sentencing of Quebec firm Transpave Inc., for workplace health and safety violation under the Bill C-45 provisions of the Criminal Code, continues to be a hot topic within the safety community. It was a landmark case for both the health and safety profession and the business community, so we asked our COS reader panelists to weigh in on this issue.

By way of reminder, Bill C-45 amended the Criminal Code to create new duties and possible criminal liability for individuals and organizations, which include corporations. Because of the complexity of these Criminal Code requirements, and the amount of time that has been passed since they became law in March 2004, answers to key questions about Bill C-45 amendments are set out below, as follows.

Issues of health and safety are becoming top concerns for businesses. While workplace safety has traditionally been a matter for occupational health and safety regulatory enforcement, on March 31, 2004, as a result of Bill C-45, safety at the workplace became a matter for criminal enforcement as well. 

A Quebec judge has fined a paving-stone manufacturer $110,000 for criminal negligence in the death of a worker, in what was said to be the country’s first criminal conviction and sentencing of a company involving a workplace death.

When it comes to chemical safety, ignorance is your worst enemy.

 

Ross Armstrong doesn’t pretend to be a chemical expert. The safety supervisor at Boart Longyear Canada has developed a keen eye for spotting important health data on a material safety data sheet (MSDS) over the years, and the workers come to him when they have concerns about chemicals used at the plant. Still, he’s no chemist and he "has no problem finding out" all he can about these substances.

 

Health and safety experts outline some basic steps to follow for safer chemical handling in the workplace.