Have there been any Criminal Code convictions for health and safety violations?

“…of incompetence, of mismanagement, of bureaucratic bungling, of deceit, of ruthlessness, of cover-up, of apathy, of expediency, and of cynical indifference.”

Duty of persons undertaking acts217. Every one who undertakes to do an act is under a legal duty to do it if an omission to do the act is or may be dangerous to life.

Duty of persons directing work217.1 Every one who undertakes, or has the authority, to direct how another person does work or performs a task is under a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to that person, or any other person, arising from that work or task.

Then, in 2009, six construction workers were on a swing stage at the 14^th floor.  The usual number of workers on the swing stage was just 2.  There were only two lifelines and only one was properly engaged.  Two workers survived but one was severely and permanently injured; four were killed. The employer, Metron Construction Corporation, plead guilty and was fined $200,000.  The Crown appealed and the Ontario Court of Appeal raised that fine to $ 750,000.  The OCA ruling is available on line.  As of this writing, the ruling has not been appealed further.

We now have two cases testing the Criminal Code amendments flowing from Westray.  Has a company official been sentenced to prison for criminal negligence?  No, not yet.  Will we see more cases?  Unfortunately, yes.  I say unfortunately because the cases so far involve completely avoidable deaths and, sadly, the potential for more deaths exist elsewhere.  On the other hand, perhaps the successful convictions will be a wake up call to manages, supervisors, directors, and owners to review their own practices or lack of safety practices.  At a minimum,  financial risk analysts will now have new data to consider when weighing the risks of failing to train, keep equipment in good repair and put the safety of workers first. 

About Terry Bogyo:

Terry is an active researcher, speaker and commentator on workers compensation issues. Now retired, he was the Director of Corporate Planning and Development for WorkSafeBC. His responsibilities included environmental scanning, strategic planning and inter-jurisdictional comparisons.

Terry says of himself: I am a student of workers' compensation systems. Many years ago I discovered two things about this area. First, workers' comp and OH&S are of vital importance to people. Protecting, caring for and providing compensation to workers are important, noble and morally responsible endeavors. The second thing I learned was that no matter how much I knew about workers' comp/OH&S, there was always so much more to learn. This is an endlessly challenging area of study. My purpose, therefore, is not to lecture, but to reflect on the ideas and issues that are topical in this area... and to invite others to share in a learning experience. By adding your knowledge and insights, others with similar interests can participate in the discovery and study of this important domain.

His blog is "Workers' Compensation Perspectives".

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