Recently a Newfoundland company called Katsheshuk Fisheries was sentenced to pay a $90,000 fine after having pled guilty to two Occupational Health and Safety violations. The Crown and Defense had made a joint recommendation in the sentencing for the $90,000 fine. The company was charged under Newfoundland Occupational Health and Safety Act in relationship to the death of one its employees while working on a shrimp trawler in 2012. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada also investigated the case and found that it was a lack of training, broken equipment and an unsafe working environment that led to the employee’s death. I am saddened to read that the courts failed to apply the applicable provisions of the Canadian Criminal Code known as the Westray amendments. These amendments to the Criminal Code were adopted by Parliament in 2004 to make sure that in cases of corporate neglect, mismanagement and disregard of health and safety provisions that corporations and employers can be held criminally liable. Unfortunately this provision of the criminal code is seldom being enforced. Patrick Colford President, New Brunswick Federation of Labour
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 18:20:12 +0000