legalmatters
Case study: Criminal charges upheld BY ROBERT KENNALEY AND JOSH WINTER
“Safety first” has become the mantra for many construction companies. The importance of proper safety training and systems cannot be understated. Not only does it protect the welfare of our employees and their families, but investment in safety training and protocols is an investment in a company’s success. Few things, if any, will shut down a site and halt construction faster than a severe injury or casualty. Long-gone are the days of men eating their lunches on steel beams, without proper fall protection. We as an industry understand this. Most companies have structured their businesses to meet or exceed occupational health and safety obligations, through protective equipment, training, safety meetings, health and safety policies, follow-up policies and employee discipline (where required). The lack of safety training and policies are therefore not always a factor in work-related injuries. Sometimes it is complacency and the
failure to implement the required training in the field. In other words, sometimes the employees simply fail to follow through and comply with OHSA legislation or policies.
that this led him to compromise his duties. The case is yet another tragic reminder of the importance of on-site safety.
In a recent case, six individuals were
that the deaths and injury was the result of criminal negligence of the company’s project manager. The charges were laid under Sections 217.1 and 219 of the Criminal Code, which state: Section 219: “everyone is criminally negligent who . . . in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do, shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons”; and Section 217.1 imposes a duty upon: “everyone who has the authority to direct how another person does work or performs a task” “to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to that person or any other person arising from that work or task”.
working at heights on a swing stage. The swing stage collapsed and tragically, five of the individuals fell more than 100 feet to the ground. Four died, while the other suffered serious and permanent injuries. Only one of the six individuals was tied off and attached to a lifeline, as required by both provincial law and industry practice. He was the only individual to not fall when the swing stage collapsed. Evidence showed that the project manager was on site and did not take steps to prevent the workers from boarding the swing stage without a lifeline. The evidence also demonstrated that the project manager had a desire to complete the work that day and
The Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed
Here, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the Trial Judge’s finding that the supervisor’s: “failure to take any steps to prevent the workers from boarding the swing stage in the above-noted circumstances constituted a breach of his duty under s. 217.1 and showed a wanton and reckless disregard for their lives and safety, thus amounting to criminal negligence…and was a significant contributing cause of the harm that resulted.”
On-site safety is a must for any construction company.
24 | JUNE 2018 | LANDSCAPE TRADES
The supervisor was sentenced to threeand-a-half years on each count to be served concurrently. The supervisor had all of the relevant safety training. It was found that he did not act as a reasonable supervisor by allowing the employees to board and operate the