Workplace Fatalities

Should Fiera Food Still be in Business?

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When should a company lose its right to exist? 

When it runs out of money? When it damages the environment? How about when it murders 5 of its workers? Yes, you read that correctly. In a period of 20 years, 5 temporary workers were killed in workplace accidents, which could have been prevented, at Fiera Foods. It was a blatant lack of adequate training of these temporary workers that caused their deaths.

All 5 of these deaths were horrible workplace murders:

  • In 1999, a 17-year-old worker was crushed by a bread-making machine
  • In 2011, a worker got crushed by machinery while on the job
  • In 2016, a 23-year-old refugee worker was strangled after her head scarf got caught in equipment
  • In 2018, another worker got crushed by machinery while working
  • The details of the latest fatality have not been released yet, but it sounded like the worker was also crushed by machinery

Click here to watch a CityNews report detailing these workplace fatalities.

It seems like Fiera Foods is not being held accountable for its workplace safety records, even though the company should be shut down by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development of Ontario (MOL), until it can prove it has all the elements of a safety program in place to ensure the health and safety of all of its workers. The law is very clear on this matter: 25(2)(h) of the OHSA states that the employer is required to “take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker.”

It is obvious if you are killing workers at your plant, you are not taking every precaution reasonable.

Does this mean the OHSA laws in Ontario are inadequate? No, but the political and social will is. We can all do better—the government, the MOL, and society at large, which should not accept that 5 souls have left this earth because business is worth more than workers’ safety.

Discussion Questions:

1. Research Bill C-45, also known as the Westray Bill. Prepare a summary of Bill C-45, its purpose, and its penalties. Reflect on the Fiera Foods case, and assess if they should be charged under this legislation.

2. Research how the use of temporary agencies has contributed to workplace deaths. Review the following CBC video link. Imagine your VP of HR has asked you to investigate the benefits and detriments of using temporary agencies to fill your labour gap. What would you tell them about both?

Is it a health and safety inspection or investigation?

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For most, it is difficult to know the difference between a safety inspection and a workplace safety investigation. It is vital that all HR and safety professionals know the distinction between the two.

When a Ministry Safety Officer enters your place of business, do you always wonder what the purpose of their visit is? Is it an inspection or is it an investigation?

Cynthia Sefton, a legal partner with Aird & Berlis LLP in Toronto, explains the vital differences. “An inspection is not an investigation, although it can lead to one,” she says. “The inspector comes to see if there is compliance. The decision to investigate a possible offence comes later.”

Click here to read the complete article

Typically, safety inspections come first, with an investigation following the inspection if the safety officer deems it necessary. In addition, there may be certain events that trigger an investigation right away, such as a critical injury that occurs in the workplace as defined by legislation.

It’s fundamental to understand the concept of compliance and due diligence. All Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legislation in Canada works on the principles of general duties, minimal standards and due diligence. All workplaces that are covered by OHS legislation must ensure they meet the minimal safety standard that is outlined in the legislation. Those standards must be reasonably achieved in all circumstances.

If you are not meeting the minimal standards you are by default not in compliance with the OHS legislation. The main purpose of ministry safety inspections is to identify if an organization complying. When they do that, the inspector can decide how to proceed.

Every year most provincial health and safety jurisdictions pick a combination of specific industries or safety hazards on which to focus. For example, the MOL of Ontario for 2019 have safety inspection blitzes in construction, health care and mining services planned.

Click here to read more about the Ontario safety blitzes

In addition to inspection blitzes, each jurisdiction gives its health and safety inspectors the power to write orders. There are different types of orders a health and safety inspector can issue. The three most common ones are: 1) stop work, 2) forthwith and 3) a compliance order.

Click here to read about the powers of a safety inspector in Ontario

HR and safety professionals have to be aware of the subtle differences between a safety inspection and a workplace safety investigation, as well as being aware of their rights and their responsibilities under their local OHS laws.  It is a large legal liability that is best addressed with a proactive safety program long before an inspector comes to visit for an inspection or an investigation.

Discussion Questions

Can you identify the powers of the safety inspectors in your jurisdiction?

Review under what circumstances an inspector in your jurisdiction will be required to conduct a workplace investigation.

Identify in your jurisdiction if the governmental safety department has identified any industry or topic specific safety blitzes.

 

 

The Deadliest Catch of All

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Tabor Chichakly/Shutterstock.

The start of lobster season, known as “Dumping Day,” is traditionally the last Monday in November. It’s the day fishers head out off the southern coast of Nova Scotia and set their traps for a potentially lucrative lobster haul.

It’s a way of life for many easterners, but it also comes with its inherent dangers out on the rough north Atlantic Ocean.

In 2015, a 53-year-old man died after going overboard in his vessel while setting traps, and in a separate incident, two other men went overboard doing the same thing, but were ultimately rescued.

It is always heartbreaking for the family, as well as the community, following a death of a worker.

Unfortunately, the sad reality is, it’s not unusual for fatalities to occur in the workplace in Canada.

According to a Globe and Mail report, the fishing industry is the deadliest sector of all occupations in Canada. It has almost 70 deaths per 100,000 workers (covering a period from 2011 to 2015), which is seven times higher than the fatality rates in construction.

This is unacceptable, and the fishing industry needs to take action to lower that rate.

Another article by the CBC sheds light on the discrepancy in workplace fatality statistics in Canada.

The Association of Workers’ Compensation Board of Canada has the official number at 1,000 deaths per year, but according to a study, the rate is much higher – almost 10,000 fatalities during that same time frame.

The lowball figure occurs because of the way that we collect statistics on workplace fatalities. Our reporting method is way too narrow and should be adjusted to reflect the real toll on workers lives.

What factors are affecting this under-reporting of fatalities in Canada? There are many factors, including:

  • Workplace fatalities where the worker is not covered by a provincial workers compensation system and therefore not counted
  • Fatalities occurring on farms may not be reported
  • Many deaths caused by vehicles may be categorized incorrectly.

HR and safety departments need to ensure that systems are in place that focus on safety prevention. They also need to make certain that their organization does not add one of their workers to the workplace fatality number.

Discussion Questions

What can industries due to help improve the collection of workplace fatality statistics?

What role should the federal and provincial governments play in reducing the number of workplace deaths in Canada?

 

Understanding the Impact of Poor Health and Safety

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Horizontal view of depressed young woman crying
Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

Picture this: You are a manager of a medium-size manufacturing company. The company is big enough to be considered a significant employer but small enough for you to have personal connections with all employees and some of their families.

It is 4:30 pm which is almost quitting time for the afternoon shift. You have just been called out to the shipping and receiving area. It is chaos. A large shelving unit has collapsed and it is clear there is a worker trapped beneath it who will not survive. It is traumatic for everyone to watch.

Once the initial first medical response has been implemented the ministry of labour arrives on site to do an inspection of the accident. Everything else is in limbo and the night shift workers have been called to cancel their shift.

Here is where it gets really difficult.

As you walk back to your office you ask the HR department to get the employee’s home phone number. The employee’s file is given to you. Everything moves in slow motion, you can smell the dust coming off the file, you take the file and immediately feel a sharp stinging, you are not sure if it is your hand or your heart. It is like a message is being sent to you, this moment, this call, will change your life forever.

As the direct supervisor you have been given the task of making the call to inform the employee’s spouse that her husband will not be coming home tonight or ever again. You pick up the phone and dial the number. A small voice answers, it is the employee’s daughter who has just been picked up from kindergarten. You ask to speak to her mother.

You know that little girl’s life has been changed forever! She may never even remember the sound of her father’s voice, the touch of his hand. Your eyes well up as you take a deep breath. You have no idea what you are going to say next,

“Stephanie, there has been an accident ….,” nothing more has to be said.

Stephanie knows that the last time she saw her husband was over their morning coffee together, the ritual which they have had since they were married.

Click here to read about the Association of Workers’ Compensation Boards of Canada

Recently, Canadian Electrocoating Ltd. pleaded guilty to a violation of the Ontario Health and Safety Act and was fined $175,000. This fine in no way represents the true cost of an employee fatality at work. Emotions, sadness and despair: these are the true costs of a workplace fatality. Nothing will ever be the same to anyone who knew or worked with the employee who was killed in the workplace.

Click here to read an article about the fine

Every occupational health and safety act in Canada outlines the duties and responsibilities of employers, supervisors and workers. All of these acts are clear that the employer is responsible and must be diligent in ensuring worker safety. Unfortunately, all stake holders fail in their duties and responsibilities at least 1000 times per year in Canada, resulting in these tragic workplace fatalities.

If you are a planning on becoming a Human Resources, Health and Safety professional or a supervisor, you must ask yourself, do I know my duties and responsibilities?

Most importantly, you must ask yourself, what do I have to do to ensure a safe workplace so I never have to make that call?

Discussion Questions:

  1. You have been hired in a manufacturing company that has a poorly developed safety program. You have asked to meet with the stakeholders: management, supervisors and union members to discuss the current obstacles to health and safety improvements in the plant.
  2. What types of obstacles do you anticipate from each of the stakeholders?
  3. What kind of support do you need from each stakeholder in order to change the safety program?