Safety Compliance Insider

Workplace Safety in the Movies

robinb — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 17:53:24 +0000

I recently wrote about the movie Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter as the victim of an occupational disease. The NIOSH science blog took this theme a step further, looking at other movies with workplace safety stories or implications. Here’s what it had to say:

Occupational Safety & Health in the Movies

"The Mad Hatter and his illness are one example of how the real problems faced by working people find their way into the movies as either the main story line (Norma Rae), a secondary theme (The Yearling), or as a real life outcome of making the movie (The Wizard of Oz)—a favorite example of NIOSH Director, John Howard. During the making of that movie, Buddy Ebsen, originally cast as the Tin Man, had to be replaced after coming down with severe shortness of breath which was diagnosed at the time to be an "allergy" to the aerosol (powder) application of his tin oxide makeup. Ebsen was replaced by actor Jack Haley whose "tin" makeup was then applied as a paste.

Movies have the power to bring the plight of a few before the eyes of many. Through this blog we are collecting favorite occupational safety and health-related movies. Our goal is to post a Top 10 list. One of my personal favorite OSH movies is Modern Times, in which Charlie Chaplin's Tramp contends with the hazards in his workplace, as Chaplin the actor undoubtedly did while making the movie. Indeed, Chaplin was injured while making Easy Street when he was hit across the bridge of his nose by a streetlamp when struggling with the lamp and the Bully.

Another film that I love, but which also unknowingly has a potential OSH connection is Breaking Away, the story of a love-sick competitive bicycler. Our NIOSH group has demonstrated the perils to sexual function in men and women who are bicycle patrol police as well as to competitive and recreational bicycle riders using saddles with a nose.

Mary Poppins highlights the very first occupational cancer attributed to a chemical. In 1775, "scrotal cancer of chimney sweeps" was attributed to soot. The intervention of the time, better bathing requirements, was strikingly effective. The causative agent was shown, 150 years later, to be 3:4-benzpyrene in coal tar."

—James Kesner, Ph.D.

Please add your favorite movie or show support for one already mentioned in the comment section below or on NIOSH’s original blog.

Criminal Negligence Charges in Queen of the North Sinking—It Must Be Something in the Air

robinb — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 19:59:11 +0000

When Bill C-45 took effect almost exactly six years ago, it amended the Criminal Code to make it easier to bring criminal negligence charges in safety incidents. But so far, there’s only been one conviction of a company for criminal negligence relating to a safety incident. On March 17, 2008, a court sentenced Transpavé, a Québec manufacturer, to pay a $100,000 fine in connection with a worker’s death. (Click here for more on the Transpavé case.)

Suddenly in the last few weeks, there’s been a small flurry of criminal negligence charges for safety incidents involving fatalities. The most recent: Authorities in BC have charged Karl Lilgert, the navigating officer of the Queen of the North ferry, with criminal negligence. The ferry sank in March 2006 after running aground near Gil Island. Two of the 101 passengers were never found and have been declared dead. Lilgert was steering the ferry at the time of the incident.

BC Charges on the Heels of ON Charges
In Ontario, police recently laid criminal negligence charges in the death of public works employee James Vecchio at a city landfill last April. Vecchio was doing sewage work in an excavated hole when a mobile crane contracted by the city toppled in and crushed him. The criminal negligence charges were brought against the crane operator, crane owner and the crane rental company. (Click here for more on this case.)

What about Management?
The government statement on the Queen of the North charges says the evidence didn’t warrant laying charges against any other member of the crew. But what about management? Wasn’t the ultimate goal of Bill C-45 to make it easier to hold corporate management liable when their companies negligently commit safety violations with tragic results? But we’ve yet to see a single CEO or other member of senior management charged with criminal negligence.

As with the Ontario case, we’ll keep track of the progress of the BC case and let you know about any developments.

YUKON

robinb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:43:28 +0000

PPE
March 8: Yukon volunteers, the Yukon Fire Marshal’s Office and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) donated used coats and surplus firefighting equipment to a firefighters’ organization in Kamloops that helps to equip fire departments in developing countries, such as Tanzania, Nicaragua and Haiti.

SASKATCHEWAN

robinb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:42:51 +0000

Farm Safety
March 14-20: That’s when Canadian Agricultural Safety Week takes place. The 2010 theme, “Plan • Farm • Safety,” encourages farmers to review their operations and make a safety plan that includes documentation, safety training and implementation. Saskatchewan Agriculture provides funding to the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture to deliver safety initiatives and services for farm and ranch families.

QUEBEC

robinb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:40:31 +0000

Workers’ Compensation
March 15: That’s when employers’ 2009-2010 statements of wages are due. If employers file late, they’ll be forced to pay charges equal to 5% of their premium or assessment for 2010 plus interest for every day past the deadline.

QUEBEC

robinb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:38:12 +0000

Farm Safety
March 14-20: In honour of Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, the CSST reminded farmers that it has fact sheets available on various farm hazards, including tractors and other agricultural machinery, falls and respiratory problems.

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

robinb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:36:17 +0000

University Mandatory Retirement Policy is Discriminatory
Three employees of a university were told they would be forced to retire at the end of the year in which they turned 65. They sued for age discrimination. The PEI Human Rights Commission agreed, ruling that the mandatory retirement policy was discriminatory. The Commission rejected the university’s argument that it be allowed to enforce mandatory retirement due to its pension plan [Nilsson v. the University of Prince Edward Island, PEI Human Rights Commission, Feb. 18, 2010].

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

robinb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:33:24 +0000

Farm Safety
March 12: The WCB encouraged farmers to develop farm safety plans as part of Canadian Agricultural Safety Week. It reminded farmers to use the Farm Safety Code of Practice, which provides tools and checklists designed to assist farmers in safety plan development.

ONTARIO

robinb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:31:38 +0000

Employer Must Pay Workers Only Minimum Wage for Mandatory Training
Workers were required to participate in mandatory training on topics such as WHMIS. The union argued that the workers had to be paid their regular wage while attending mandatory training while the employers said it only had to pay them minimum wage under the collective agreement and the law. An arbitrator sided with the employer. The collective agreement required workers to be paid in accordance with the Employment Standards Act while attending mandatory training. And it was reasonable to interpret the Act as requiring payment of minimum wage only [Middlesex Community Living v. Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 144, [2010] CanLII 9072 (ON L.A.), Feb. 28, 2010].

ONTARIO

robinb — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:30:15 +0000

Racial Harassment Poisons Workplace but Doesn’t Cause Mental Distress
After 7 years of racial and homophobic abuse from his all male colleagues and management, a driver of Palestinian origin finally decided he’d had enough and left the company. A court ruled that he’d been constructively dismissed and awarded him $9,462 in lieu of 4 months’ notice. But it also said that although the harassment poisoned the work environment, it wasn’t “malicious and outrageous” enough to justify extra damages for infliction of mental distress [Qubti v. Reprodux Ltd., [2010] O.J. No. 467, Feb. 4, 2010].