Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

via United Steelworkers, District 3

Every year in British Columbia about 160 workers die on the job. Across Canada there are about 1,000 workplace fatalities annually and well over 300,000 lost-time workplace injuries. Since 2004, that adds up to roughly 6,000 workplace deaths and close to 2,000,000 injuries.

2004 was an important year: it was the year that Bill C45 was enacted. Termed the Westray Act after the horrible mine explosion in Nova Scotia that killed 26 miners in 1994, the new law was 10 years in the making.

Years of lobbying by the United Steelworkers finally convinced all parties in the House of Commons to amend the Criminal Code of Canada to legislate criminal prosecutions of corporate executives, directors and managers whose actions prove willfully negligent in neglecting their responsibilities to make and keep workplaces healthy and safe.

That same year, 2004, also saw a horrific accident at a New Westminster sawmill. Ultimately, the largest ever by WorkSafe BC, just under $300,000, was levied for the death of Lyle Hewer. The police and Worksafe BC both recommended criminal charges, but none was laid. The problem that caused Hewer’s death was fixed after he was killed, at a cost of $30,000 – a small price to pay for the loss of life, especially if you are the CEO of a $10 billion corporation.

With the Westray Act and 6,000 workplace deaths on the books, perhaps you might think there would be a slew of case law on such charges. Well, there isn’t. In fact, there have been only a few charges laid and even fewer convictions. In BC, there have been no prosecutions in six years.

It’s not been for a lack of serious injuries and fatalities. During the period 2004-2008 the Workers’ Compensation Board, now called WorkSafe BC, reported 785 workplace deaths and over 308,500 compensable workplace injuries. By contrast, about 1,500 people a year die in Canada from alcohol-related accidents on roads, recreational vehicles and boats, yet there are over 90,000 drunk-driving convictions per year. This begs the question: why have there not been more criminal prosecutions relating to workplace deaths and injuries? They aren’t all just “accidents”.

Just as was the case with the death of Lyle Hewer, no criminal charges were in connection with the death of 52-year old Ted Gramlich. A logging faller, he bled to death on a Vancouver Island side-hill on November 21, 2005. An inquest found a myriad of safety issues, including a confusing web of corporate contracts that left unattended basic safety standards. That year 42 other forest workers died on the job. Gramlich’s widow says, “If safety were first as they say, he’d be alive today.”

On March 20, 2006, logging truck driver Frank Leroux died on the job. Dozens more logging truck drivers had been killed; a Coroner’s inquest concluded with 17 jury recommendations to improve safety on BC logging roads. Again, no charges have been filed.

Between May 15 and 17, 2006, four workers died at the site of a decommissioned mine in Kimberley. The first to die, Doug Erickson, succumbed to an oxygen-depleted atmosphere. Two days later, his co-worker Bob Newcombe followed; then two BC Paramedics, Kim Weitzel and Shawn Currier, also died at the site. There were press reports, investigations, an inquest, but no criminal charges.

On March 7, 2007, three women farm workers died in a vehicle crash in Abbotsford. On September 5, 2008 in Langley, three mushroom workers were killed on the job, and three more were seriously injured. More reports, investigations, inquests, but no criminal charges.

Some people say these were accidents. Well, accidents are preventable. Managers and company owners are ultimately responsible for ensuring the safety and health of workers and for doing everything they can to help prevent accidents and injuries in the workplace. Criminal charges and, importantly, the threat of criminal charges are a powerful tool in that regard, far more so than fines and penalties from WorkSafe BC.

It’s about time we used the tools at our disposal to stop the killing. It’s time to start enforcing the law. It’s past time that corporations and senior executives were held accountable by the courts for their actions and inactions that put their employees safety at risk. There is far too much unfinished business in the area of workers’ health and safety.

Let’s dust off the Westray Bill and start using it to stop the killing in BC and Canada once and for all.

By Stephen Hunt, Director, United Steelworkers District 3