YELLOWKNIFE, N.W.T. – After a McDonald’s restaurant posted a notice requiring its employees to speak only English, the owner and operator of the business has issued an apology letter to workers. The letter, which was posted online in a CBC News story on Sept. 6, was Al Nielsen’s response to the Yellowknife restaurant’s crew and managers regarding the “Language in Workplace” notice posted on Aug. 25. “While the intent of the notice was to address customer feedback, it’s clear the notice was inappropriate,” wrote Nielsen in the letter, which he reportedly issued over Labour Day weekend. “McDonald’s is a place that welcomes and respects EVERYONE… my organization values diversity in all its forms – including language.” He also called the notice “insensitive” and apologized to employees whom it had offended. The original notice had reportedly ordered staff to speak English on the job “99 per cent of the time,” with exceptions in “a few cercumstances [sic].”
Category Archives: Compliance & Enforcement
Contractor facing charges for 2015 accident that injured two workers
GRANDE PRAIRIE, Alta. – Alberta’s labour ministry has laid 12 charges against D & J Isley & Sons Contracting Ltd., for its role in a vehicular accident that injured two employees more than two years ago. The incident occurred on Aug. 7, 2015, when an equipment operator was driving himself and another worker to the company’s Grande Prairie worksite in an all-terrain vehicle, according to an undated announcement posted on the Alberta Labour website in early Sept. 2017. When the vehicle reached an inclined road, it stalled and began to roll downhill; the brakes failed, so the equipment operator steered the vehicle into a ditch. On July 14 of this year, the provincial government charged D & J Isley with two violations of Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, four of the OHS Regulation and six of the OHS Code, the announcement stated. Charges included failing to ensure that equipment was free of defects, that workers were trained to operate equipment safely and that workplace hazards had been identified and eliminated or controlled.
Wood company fined $40,000 after employee loses fingers in machine
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – A Regina-based wood supplier has been fined $40,000, including an $11,428.57 surcharge, for its involvement in an occupational accident that cost a worker several fingers on Oct. 29, 2015. According to a Sept. 6 news release from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety, an employee of Aallcann Wood Suppliers Incorporated was removing debris from a wood peeler at a worksite near Prince Albert when the machine’s rotating teeth made contact with the worker’s hand, severing several of the fingers. The employer later pleaded guilty in Prince Albert Provincial Court to failing to ensure that a machine was locked out before a worker undertook maintenance of it, and three other charges were dropped. Aallcann was sentenced to pay the fine on Aug. 25 of this year. “The hand is the most commonly injured body part,” the Ministry stated in the release. “Common hand hazards include chains, gears, rollers, wheels, transmission belts, spiked or jagged tools, cutting tools, or processes that involve shearing, chopping or crushing.” Employers need to identify hazards and develop safety measures to prevent injuries, the release added.
Union leader treks to St. John’s to draw attention to safety issues
COME BY CHANCE, N.L. – To raise awareness of safety concerns at the North Atlantic Refining Limited (NARL) oil refinery in Come By Chance, the president of the union representing the plant’s employees journeyed by bicycle and on foot this week to Confederation Building in St. John’s, where he was expected to attend a meeting with the Service N.L. Minister. Glenn Nolan, the president of United Steelworkers Local 9316, set off for the 150-kilometre trek from the refinery at 8 p.m. on Sept. 4. “The reason for this walk is to bring awareness to the Process Safety Management code of practice, which was signed February 10th, 2014,” Nolan said in a video posted on Facebook on Aug. 31, referring to an agreement between the union, NARL and the provincial government. He added that the union had been trying to draw Service N.L.’s attention to safety issues at the refinery, “and we’re not getting the response that we should to follow this process… The government needs to listen.” The union had previously brought up these issues in an August news release (COHSN, Sept. 5). About 50 people gathered to see Nolan off on Sept. 4, according to local media reports.
Glencore fined $200,000 for Richard Pigeau mining tragedy
Less than two years after mining worker Richard Pigeau was killed in an accident at the Nickel Rim South Mine in Sudbury, Ont., Toronto-based company Glencore Canada Corporation has pleaded guilty to violating the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection with the incident.
The employer was fined $200,000, plus a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, by Justice of the Peace Michael G. Kitlar at the Ontario Court of Justice in Sudbury on Aug. 28, according to a court bulletin from the provincial Ministry of Labour (MOL).
Pigeau, who was 54 years old, was operating a load haul dump at the mine on Oct. 20, 2015, when the bucket of the vehicle struck a wall on the right, causing him to be ejected from his seat. One of the vehicle’s tires ran over him, causing fatal injuries.
The incident was investigated by both the MOL and a joint team consisting of Glencore employees and union representatives. Both investigations determined that the door of the load haul dump had opened while the vehicle had been moving down a ramp and that Pigeau had not been wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident. The MOL and the joint team both concluded that Pigeau would more likely have survived the incident if he had been wearing the seatbelt, the Ministry noted.
Last fall, the MOL laid seven occupational health and safety charges against Glencore, as well as two against Steven Holmik, a colleague of Pigeau (COHSN, Oct. 25). Among the charges against the company were failing to take every reasonable precaution to protect a worker, interfering with objects at the scene of a workplace fatality, failing to keep equipment in good condition and failing to protect a worker’s safety through information, instruction and supervision.
The case made its way to court beginning in December. Glencore later pleaded guilty to failing to provide information, instruction and supervision to protect a worker’s safety, specifically regarding the use of seatbelts in a load haul dump. Local media reports have stated that the other eight charges against Glencore and Holmik were dropped.
Required by the Provincial Offences Act, the victim fine surcharge is a standard payment that goes to a special fund that assists crime victims, the Ministry noted.
Glencore extracts nickel and copper from three underground mines in the Sudbury area. Founded in 1922, the corporation runs additional mines in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Chile.
Town fined $100,000 after employee injured by shelving unit
BARRIE, Ont. – A provincial court has ordered the Corporation of the Town of Innisfil to pay a fine of $100,000, plus a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, for its role in an incident in which a worker was knocked unconscious early last year. A court bulletin from the Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) stated that three municipal workers were moving equipment and machinery onto a trailer on Jan. 27, 2016, when a two-metre-high shelving unit struck the side of the trailer and fell onto one of the employees. The worker was knocked out for a considerable amount of time and left with critical injuries. A subsequent MOL investigation found that the employer had failed to use a competent signaller when the trailer operator did not have a full view of the intended travel path. The Town of Innisfil later pleaded guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice in Barrie to violating Section 56 of the Industrial Establishments Regulation, and Justice Cecile Applegate passed sentence on Aug. 30 of this year.
Worker’s spinal injury nets fine for contracting firm
CARLYLE, Sask. – An employer has been fined $25,000, plus a $10,000 surcharge, for its involvement in a workplace accident that seriously injured a worker on May 11, 2016. That day, an employee of Carlyle Contracting Services Ltd. was working with rigging at a worksite near Carlyle when a chain holding an l-beam broke, according to a news release from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety. The I-beam struck the worker on the back and damaged the spine, the release added. On Aug. 23 of this year, the company pleaded guilty in Carlyle Provincial Court to failing to train a worker in safe rigging practices before the worker was permitted to assemble, use, maintain or dismantle rigging. Three other charges were dropped, and the court administered the fine on the same day. “Employers are responsible for ensuring workers receive training in all matters necessary to protect their health and safety when they are hired, when their duties change or when new equipment is introduced,” the Ministry stated.
Packer fatality in 2014 leads to conviction for Saskatchewan firm
SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – The Saskatchewan Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety has convicted and fined a Kelvington-based employer for its involvement in the death of a worker three years ago. According to a news release from the Ministry, the incident occurred on an unspecified date in 2014, at a worksite near Mankota, Sask.; an employee of 101186505 Saskatchewan Ltd. was operating a packer at the site when the vehicle rolled over him, resulting in fatal injuries. The company later pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the worker had used a restraining device while operating powered mobile equipment, while another charge was dropped. On Aug. 22 of this year, the employer was fined $50,000, plus a $20,000 surcharge, in Swift Current Provincial Court. “Workplace injuries, illness and fatalities are preventable,” the release stated. “Working together, we can ensure everyone gets home safe and sound every day.”
Military private faces charges for assault against three colleagues
SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, Que. – The Canadian Forces (CF) National Investigation Service has charged a military member with three counts of sexual assault, regarding incidents that allegedly occurred at the Leadership and Recruit School at the CF’s Saint-Jean Garrison last November. According to a news release from the federal Department of National Defence, Private Jeremy August is accused of assaulting three other CF members during basic training at the school. On Aug. 23, Pte. August was charged with three counts under section 271 of the Criminal Code, punishable under section 130 of the National Defence Act. “The investigators of the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service are committed to protecting and supporting the victims of criminal sexual offences,” said Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Bolduc, the commanding officer of the National Investigation Service, in a press statement. “This charge illustrates the continued success of our efforts to identify, investigate and bring to justice those persons responsible for these offences.” The date and location of the court martial are yet to be determined, the release noted.
Roofing company fined for lack of personal protective equipment
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – A roofing firm has been fined $2,800, including $800 in surcharges, for failure to ensure that its workers were using proper personal protective equipment. A news release from the Saskatchewan Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety stated that an occupational health officer had inspected a worksite in Prince Albert on May 2, 2016 and found employees of Roger Lajeunesse, operating as Windel’s Roofing, working without the required fall-protection gear or head protection. Nobody was injured, but the Ministry charged Lajeunesse with four violations of the province’s occupational health and safety regulations. Two of the charges were later dropped, and Lajeunesse pleaded guilty in Prince Albert Provincial Court to failure to ensure that workers were wearing approved industrial headwear and using a fall-protection system. On Aug. 16 of this year, Lajeunesse was fined $1,000, plus a $400 surcharge, for each count. “Falls from heights can cause serious injuries and are easy to prevent,” the Ministry stated. “To learn more about fall prevention, business owners and employees are encouraged to contact WorkSafe Saskatchewan or their industry safety association for recommendations on equipment and training.”