Canadian Occupational Safety

U P F R O N T F I N E S A N D P E N A L T I E S 6 www.thesafetymag.com/ca LABOUR GROUPS MARK 29TH ANNIVERSARY OF WESTRAY TRAGEDY THE Canadian Labour Congress and The United Steelworkers union honoured the 29th anniversary of the disaster at the Westray coal mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia that took place on May 9, 1992. The explosion claimed the lives of 26 miners. Investigation into the disaster made clear that not only was the explosion preventable, but that it was inevitable, given the lack of health and safety measures enacted by the owners and operators in the short eight-month life of the mine. According to the Canadian Labour Congress, early in the morning that day beneath the small town of Plymouth, methane gas leaked into the Westray mine shaft from the Foord coal seam and mixed with coal dust. It caused an explosion. "The sky lit up with a blue flash and homes more than a kilometer away shook with the force of blast. Within seconds 26 miners working underground on that shift were killed," the congress said. "In a little over an hour, a team of men was down the mine on-foot to attempt a rescue. They were soon joined by rescue teams from mines in Cape Breton, Pugwash and Bathurst, as is the tradition of miners rushing in to help their fellow miners. But there were no survivors of this explosion." The Westray death toll was Canada's worst mining disaster since the 1958 "bump" in the Springhill coal mine that claimed the lives of 75 miners. "Before the mine opened, concerns had been raised about its safety. During its construction, in July 1991, a letter was sent to the provincial Labour Minister from MLA Bertin Boudreau warning that the new coal mine "is potentially one of the most dangerous in the world." The promise of new jobs, rich profits and political reward left those warnings and others unheeded," it said. "When the explosion happened, the Westray mine was the only working underground coal mine in Pictou County, Nova Scotia's coalfield. The coal seam there had been mined for 200 years with a long history of explosions. The nearby Allan mine, which closed in 1951, experienced eight methane explosions in its 40-years of operations." A provincial inquiry led by Justice Peter Richard found that "The Westray story is a complex mosaic of actions, omissions, mistakes, incompetence, apathy, cynicism, stupidity and neglect." However, all attempts to prosecute the company and its officials for actions that lead to the deaths of 26 men failed. Canada's unions responded with a campaign to change the Criminal Code. They wanted corporate managers and directors who fail to take steps to protect the lives of their employees to be held criminally liable in the event of workplace deaths. Private members' bills were introduced in Parliament only to fail. On the fifth attempt, in 2003, the federal government enacted what would come to be known as the "Westray Bill" which provided a new framework for corporate liability in Canada. "The USW has been relentless in having lawmakers and law enforcement take the Westray Law seriously," said Ken Neumann, USW national director. "[However], across Canada, we still see about 1,000 workers lose their lives every single year, with over 260,000 receiving what are often life-altering injuries, just from going to work." Employer fined $12k after worker's death from boating incident Labrador outfitting company Cloud 9 Salmon Lodge Inc. was fined $12,500 after one of its workers died in a boating incident. On July 12, 2018, the province's OHS Division received a call about an overturned boat on the Eagle River near Cartwright. An employee of the company — Raymond Green — was missing. The other passengers on the boat, guests of the lodge, survived. Green's body was never found. Cloud 9 Salmon Lodge Inc. pleaded guilty to a number of offences, including failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of workers where reasonable. "Across Canada, we still see about 1,000 workers lose their lives every single year, with over 260,000 receiving what are often life-altering injuries, just from going to work." Ken Neumann, USW. Worker injured after being pulled into machine Ontario-based Morbern Inc. was fined $65,000 after one of its workers was injured in an incident involving a table with moving parts. The incident took place on Dec. 23, 2018, when a worker employed by the company was working at a Testa table, inspecting a roll of vinyl fabric. While reversing the movement of the roll of fabric, the worker used a hand to apply tension to the fabric, instead of using an in-house safety strap developed for this purpose. The worker's arm was pulled into an in-running nip hazard, and the worker sustained an injury. Roofing company VP killed after fall Sylvain Côté, vice president of Toiture A. Duplantis, died in a 26 ft. fall. On December 1, 2020, Côté was at a residential building in Montreal. He had gone there to seal a crack which was leaking water near a vent on the roof. To get to the roof, Côté used a portable extendable ladder. Once at the top, the ladder slipped and he fell to the ground. The CNESST found two causes for the accident: the ladder slipping, and the planning of the building work itself — which was hazardous and violated various provincial health and safety laws.

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