Canadian Safety Reporter

7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 News | October 2017 | CSR In November 2013, Casey Transport's record of perfor- mance under the code came under scrutiny and the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure audited the com- pany's record. The audit con- cluded that Casey Transport had a problem with driver safety violations, so the company in- creased its emphasis on safety and cracked down on drivers who had safety issues. Over the next two years, La- chaine received verbal repri- mands for one speeding ticket and a few minor logbook viola- tions, but overall the company felt his safety record improved. In March 2015, he stopped being part of a two-person team and began driving alone. Shortly after this development in early April 2015, Lachaine received tickets for speeding and a log- book violation, which led to a verbal reprimand. This was fol- lowed by another verbal repri- mand on Sept. 13 after he was ticketed for running a red light. A few days after the red light violation, on Sept. 17, Lachaine was stopped for a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastruc- ture roadside inspection. He was unable to produce log pages for the previous 14 days, which was a violation of National Safety Code rules. The ministry requested the log sheets from Casey Trans- port and gave Lachaine a warn- ing but no fine. Casey Transport then gave Lachaine another ver- bal reprimand. On Sept. 10, Lachaine went to a Loblaws facility in Calgary to pick up cargo with a passen- ger in his truck. Loblaws was an important client and it required everyone entering the facility to wear safety equipment such as a safety vest and steel-toed boots, but Lachaine's passenger didn't have safety footwear so the passenger was denied entry. Lachaine's truck was in a one- way lane with other trucks lined up behind him, so the security guard allowed Lachaine to enter the facility, make a U-turn, and exit. However, after entering, La- chaine drove to the facility's shipping office and told the per- son in charge of shipping he had been denied access and couldn't take his load. The shipping clerk told him to take the load and he would talk to the security man- ager, so Lachaine spent between 30 and 45 minutes getting his load while his passenger re- mained in the truck, contrary to orders from security person- nel. When Loblaws found out, it complained to Casey Transport about the safety breach, and re- quired Lachaine take its dock safety program before his next dispatch. Lachaine said the person in charge of shipping had given him permission to take the load but otherwise didn't explain why he had ignored the security guard's instructions and breached safety protocols. Casey Transport gave him a final written warning, advising him further violations would result in termination and Loblaws would ban him from its facilities and fine him $1,000 if he did it again. On Dec. 20, 2015, Lachaine received a ticket for driving with a flat tire. He didn't advise Casey Transport, but the company found out about it anyway. The company reviewed his logbooks from the past few months, which revealed other safety violations — such as not taking breaks as required by the National Safety Code rules — that resulted in an accumulation of nine active points in nine months. There were also clerical errors and missing information in the log- books. Driver's safety record gave company poor safety rating Lachaine's active safety viola- tion points in such a short time pushed Casey Transport into an unsatisfactory safety rating with the ministry, which led to the company losing a contract with a major client amounting to 75 per cent of its business. Lachaine wasn't the only driver to accu- mulate active points that con- tributed to the bad safety rating, but his accumulation was several times the acceptable amount — carriers were only allowed to ac- cumulate 1.75 points per truck per year. Casey Transport terminated Lachaine's employment based on his safety record and willing- ness to breach safety protocols despite warnings and repri- mands. Lachaine challenged the dismissal, arguing the com- pany condoned his misconduct by giving him assignments that couldn't be completed on time without breaching safety proto- cols and falsifying logbooks. The adjudicator found La- chaine provided no support for his claim that Casey Trans- port condoned and pressured him into breaching safety pro- tocols to complete his assign- ments or that his loads couldn't be delivered without making such breaches, despite the fact his loads were refrigerated and time-sensitive. In fact, the com- pany gave him reprimands and warnings every time it learned of a breach, so cumulatively this should have made him realize Casey Transport didn't want him to ignore safety require- ments, said the adjudicator. The adjudicator noted that there may have been some tol- erance for safety breaches be- fore 2013, but it was clear that once Casey Transport's safety record came under scrutiny and was audited by the ministry, the company placed more empha- sis on safety and didn't tolerate breaches. The adjudicator determined that Lachaine demonstrated a continued failure to ignore safe- ty protocols over a short period of time, despite multiple warn- ings that his employment could be in jeopardy by doing so. In addition, he falsified his logs and didn't acknowledge that he did anything wrong. Though Casey Transport didn't suspend him before resorting to termination, the adjudicator felt the number of reprimands and warnings La- chaine received was sufficient. It upheld the termination and dis- missed Lachaine's complaint. "Breaches of National Safety Code rules put a driver's safety, the safety of other motorists and property at risk," said the adjudicator. "The rate at which (Lachaine) was breaching safety protocols prior to his dismissal, the seriousness of the breaches, his failure to heed warnings and reprimands, the consequences of the breaches for the em- ployer, (his) conduct in hiding his breaches and falsifying his logs and his complete failure to recognize that his conduct was problematic was enough to jus- tify the dismissal." For more information see: • Lachaine and Casey Transport Ltd., Re, 2017 CarswellNat 3704 (Can. Lab. Code Adj.). Trucking < pg. 3 Driver accumulated points at 5 times the accepted rate e driver's logbooks revealed clerical errors and safety violations such as not taking breaks as required by the National Safety Code rules. Credit: Shutterstock/ Aisylu Ahmadieva

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