On the 20th anniversary of the deadly Westray explosion that killed 26 miners in Nova Scotia, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) has released a guide for investigating corporate criminal negligence in the event of a serious injury or fatality in a workplace.
Parliament passed legislation (Bill C-45) in 2004 holding employers criminally liable if they willfully fail to protect the lives and safety of their workers. Briefly stated, sections 22.1, 217.1 and 219 of the Criminal Code imposes a duty on organizations and their representatives (whether a director, partner, manager, supervisor, employee, member, agent or contractor of the organization) who have authority to direct how others do work or perform a task to take reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to persons performing the work or task, and to the public, arising from the work or task.
To find out more about the guide, read my latest post on Slaw.
Marie-Yosie Saint-Cyr, LL.B. Managing Editor
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