Why Informal OHS Programs Aren’t Enough, Even for a Small Workforce A worker on a steel barge peered through a hatch and saw his co-workers and a supervisor “all piled up on top of each other” inside a void space. One of the firefighters called to the scene took off his breathing apparatus to enter the [...]... Read more

A worker in Alberta was operating a mill that prepares rubber to retread industrial tires. Rubber got stuck to the back roller. The worker went to the back of the mill to fi x the malfunction. He climbed over a guardrail, lost his balance, fell onto a roller and got his hands caught in a [...]... Read more

A retired engineer went to the site of a construction project near his home to speak to the workers about the work they were doing and methods they were using. As he was leaving, he fell through an uncovered stairwell opening and was in a coma for six days. When he emerged from the coma, [...]... Read more

In the summer of 2008, 22 Canadians died from an outbreak of listeriosis, a bacterial infection. The bacteria was traced to contaminated meat products produced at a Toronto plant owned by Maple Leaf Foods. The tragedy fuelled a public backlash and criticism of Canada’s food safety system. In response, the government appointed an independent [...]... Read more

A worker in Alberta was operating a mill that prepares rubber to retread industrial tires. Rubber got stuck to the back roller. The worker went to the back of the mill to fix the malfunction. He climbed over a guardrail, lost his balance, fell onto a roller and got his hands caught in a pinchpoint. [...]... Read more

Over the course of 28 months, a company that manufactures auto body components disciplined a co-extrusion worker for nine different incidents, including three safety infractions. For example, the worker challenged a co-worker to a fight, showed up for work while under the influence of alcohol and spilled a lubricant on the floor and under three production lines. The company finally fired him without notice or wages in lieu of notice. The worker sued for wrongful dismissal. The court dismissed th... Read more

A general contractor building a power station in NB hired a subcontractor to do some of the work. The subcontractor didn’t pay its workers’ compensation assessment for the year. The NB Workers’ Compensation Board (Board) apportioned 93.42% of the outstanding assessment to work the subcontractor had performed for the general contractor and sued the general contractor to collect this portion of the assessment. The court explained that both a contractor and subcontractor can be li... Read more

A mine worker in the Northwest Territories sexually harassed a female co-worker. The harassment lasted for a month. Some of the lowlights: the worker made sexual comments to the co-worker, tried to pull her into his room in the mine’s dormitory, made inappropriate comments to her and grabbed her from behind while squeezing her torso to get her breasts to move up and down. The worker was arrested and a court found him guilty of two crimes: assault and sexual assault. The court noted that th... Read more

A BC factory worker hurts his back on the job. He returns to his old job after five months of rehab. Two weeks later, he’s told to work in the Assembly Area. He refuses because of back pain and gets suspended for five days. The worker gets a doctor’s note but the company still thinks he’s okay. A month later, the worker refuses again to work in the Assembly Area and is suspended indefinitely. The union steps in. The two sides agree to have the worker undergo an independent me... Read more

A workers’ right to a safe and healthy workplace isn’t contingent on how many hours they work per week. Unfortunately, company safety programs tend to focus on protecting the full-time workers who typically make up the bulk of a company’s workforce.... Read more