First Reference Talks

Discussions on Human Resources, Employment Law and Payroll

By | 5 Minutes Read

Project manager guilty of health and safety criminal negligence in Metron Construction case

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that the Crown proved beyond a reasonable doubt that a project manager was criminally negligent in causing the deaths of four workers and bodily harm to one involved in a workplace accident. -

By | 2 Minutes Read

Following an OHSA order is not a mitigating factor in sentencing

At trial, the employer was convicted of two offences under the OHSA and fined $25,000 for each offence. In determining the sentence, the Justice of the Peace (JP) noted that although the maximum fine for each offence was $500,000, the employer was not a particularly large operation, the injury was not particularly grave, nor did the accident occur as a result of the wilful disregard of a known hazard. The JP also acknowledged that the employer had taken steps “to establish a safe working environment” prior to the accident occurring.

By | 3 Minutes Read

Fine increased in Metron OHS criminal negligence causing death case

As you may recall, charges under both the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Criminal Code of Canada were laid against the company Metron for the death of four workers at a Toronto construction site when they fell from a scaffold that did not use proper fall arrest systems. A fifth worker was seriously injured. Metron was convicted under the Criminal Code provisions that make it a criminal offence to direct a worker to perform a task without taking reasonable steps to prevent bodily harm to a worker. The trial judge fined the company $200,000 plus the Victim Fine Surcharge of 15 percent or $30,000. The Crown appealed and argued that the fine was manifestly unfit...

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