Canadian Safety Reporter

©2015 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-7798-2810-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher (Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business). Canadian Safety Reporter is part of the Canadian HR Reporter group of publications: • Canadian HR Reporter — www.hrreporter.com • Canadian Occupational Safety magazine — www.cos-mag.com • Canadian Payroll Reporter — www.payroll-reporter.com • Canadian Employment Law Today — www.employmentlawtoday.com • Canadian Labour Reporter — www.labour-reporter.com See carswell.com for information Safety Reporter Canadian www.safetyreporter.com Published 12 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Subscription rate: $129 per year Customer Service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 E-mail: carswell.customerrelations @thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 3V4 Director, Carswell Media Karen Lorimer Publisher John Hobel (on leave) Associate Publisher/Managing Editor Todd Humber Lead Editor Sarah Dobson Assistant Editor Mallory Hendry (on leave) Assistant Editor Anastasiya Jogal Contributing Editors Liz Foster Sabrina Nanji Liz Bernier Jeffrey R. Smith Marketing & Audience Development Manager Robert Symes mm.ali@thomsonreuters.com (416) 609-5866 Circulation Co-ordinator Keith Fulford keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9585 Too much confi dence in worker's safety awareness CSR | December 2015 | News latest version of CSA standard CSA C22.1," which involved de-energizing a live electrical system before working on it. Longard protested the charges, arguing it took every reasonable precaution in the circumstances by: employing qualifi ed electricians — in- cluding Boyle — who knew the proper precautions to take; assigning Boyle the job know- ing he was "highly experienced and safety conscious;" ensur- ing Boyle took certifi ed safety courses; appointing Boyle the safety offi cer for the company; and assigning him the task of preparing a safety manual for the company. Longard said there was no way it could know Boyle wouldn't follow proper safety procedure and cut the power to the electrical cabinet before working on it. e court found that under the provincial health and safety act and regulations, Longard shared responsibility for health and safety with its employees. Boyle must also have been aware of the risk of doing the job without cutting the power, which turned out to be "a trag- ic, fatal miscalculation." However, Boyle's miscalcu- lation did not absolve Longard of responsibility. e evidence showed the company took a "completely hands-off ap- proach to Mr. Boyle's work" and safety at the worksite, letting Boyle do everything. is was not acceptable un- der health and safety require- ments, said the court. Company relied on worker for all safety matters e court found Longard didn't institute polices or prac- tices for workplace safety out- side of relying on Boyle for ev- erything. is was "far short of what the legislation requires," said the court. "(Longard) had no safety pro- gram, no manual, no policies, nothing. It provided no train- ing to its junior employees and in Mr. Boyle's case, no safety training until the fall of 2012 when he and (the com- pany's owner) took the NSCSA courses," said the court. "In ef- fect, Longard's defence is that its compliance with its statu- torily-mandated occupational health and safety obligations was satisfi ed by Chris Boyle's safety-conscious practices and years of experience. at is simply not taking 'every rea- sonable precaution.'" e court also found that Lon- gard didn't even know when specifi cally Boyle and his col- leagues were doing the job. e company claimed to be under the impression it would be done after hours as con- templated in the contract, and the power would be shut off . In addition to the safety viola- tions, the court noted the job also was contrary to the Ca- nadian Electrical Code (CEC) and, while it was "inexplicable" an experienced electrician wouldn't follow the CEC, Lon- gard should have followed up on the job to make sure proper precautions were being taken. "Longard cannot be said to have done anything that con- stitutes due diligence," said the court. " ere were no protec- tive measures in place and their absence — with Longard simply relying on Mr. Boyles' experience and safety-con- sciousness without more and not anticipating that he would work on a 600-volt system — is not due diligence." e Crown asked for a $75,000 fi ne for Longard's safety violations, but the court considered that the company — small to begin with — was no longer in operation, as with- out Boyle it couldn't continue its business. In addition, Lon- gard had no prior health and safety violations and it showed an awareness of the need for safety procedures when it asked Boyle to develop a safety manual and sent him to take the NSCSA courses. e court ordered Longard to pay a fi ne of $35,000 plus a $5,250 victim surcharge. To make up for the reduced fi ne, the court also ordered the company "to make a series of presentations on the facts of the case" and "the workplace safety issues involved," totalling 150 hours. See R. v. R.D. Lon- gard Services Ltd., 2015 NSPC 20 (N.S. Prov. Ct.). Don't < pg. 5 "Longard had no safety program, no manual, no policies, nothing... In eff ect, Longard's defence is that its compliance with its statutorily-mandated occupational safety obligations was satisfi ed by the employee's safety-conscious practices and years of experience." WEBINARS WEBINARS Interested in learning more about safety and HR issues directly from the experts? Check out the Carswell Professional Development Centre's live and on-demand webinars discussing topics such as building strong safety leadership, engaging managers and supervisors to ensure OHS compliance, and building a better joint health and safety committee. Visit www.cpdcentre.ca/cos for more information.

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