Upon other employer duties relevant to health and safety, the duty to provide competent supervisors may be the most important. An employer may have all the requirements of a safe workplace, however, having a supervisor that is negligent may result in criminal charges against the business resulting in sever fines. Criminal negligence charges are for extreme cases such as the one below.
R. v. Metron Construction Corporation
The case of R. v. Metron Construction Corporation (Metron) is an important case to be aware of and also a sad one. In this case, Metron was given a project of restructuring the balconies of several high-rise buildings. The president of the company hired a project manager, whom then hired a supervisor for the workers on site. Swing-stage scaffolding was needed for the workers to work on the buildings’ exterior balconies. Life lines were required to be worn by each worker and were attached to each swing-stage, ensuring any falls wouldn’t result in injury or death. The supervisor was responsible for insuring that safety procedures were followed.
The company ordered additional swing-stage scaffolding that did not have proper labels for maximum capacity as required under the Ontario Health and Safety Act (OHSA). On December 24^th, 2009, 6 workers including the supervisor boarded onto a swing-stage to travel to the 14^th floor. The normal practice is for only 2 individuals to be on a swing-stage at once. The combined weight led to the collapse of the swing-stage, leading to 4 deaths (including the supervisor). There were only 2 life lines available on the swing-stage, only one of which was used properly – the worker that properly used the lifeline was uninjured and the other that used it improperly was injured. The use of a lifeline is also a regulation required by the OHSA. A report concluded that the combined weight and the faulty design of the swing-stage was the reason for the collapse. Further, had all workers used lifelines, the deaths would be prevented. A toxicology report also revealed that workers were under the influence of marijuana, including the supervisor.
Decision:
Metron was found criminally negligent under the Criminal Code for the conduct of the supervisor. This was due to the degree of blameworthiness and severity of the accident. Specifically, the departure from the 2-person limit norm, the improper use of lifelines, workers being under the influence of marijuana, and the fact that the supervisor allowed all this to take place were all factors leading to this decision. The fine was set at $750 000, from the initial $200 000 in order to denunciate and deter such negligence that place workers in danger.
Takeaway:
Corporations can be found criminally negligent for the actions of anyone in a supervisory role. Specifically, the court maintained that the seriousness and the corresponding penalty is not to be diminished by the fact that the negligence was the fault of the supervisor rather than a more prominent figure of the company. It is therefore important for human resource and health and safety professionals to be aware of the importance of having competent and diligent supervisors responsible for the health and safety of workers. Employers must ensure that supervisors are properly trained and that all standards are followed so that unnecessary accidents are avoided. Training, inspections, workplace policy and proper lines of communication should all be used as a means of maintaining high standards of health and safety. In addition, any violations by supervisors should be dealt with in a serious manner with discipline imposed accordingly. If there are any concerns in your workplace regarding health and safety policy and compliance, please seek the advice of an employment lawyer.