Blog Post #284 – BFI Canada Inc. Fined $150,000 after Worker Injured

Excerpt from the Government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’

BFI Canada Inc., a waste management company operating in Canada and the United States, was fined $150,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a worker was injured.

On May 28, 2009, a worker from a temporary help agency was assigned to a waste collection route for BFI Canada Inc. in Ottawa. The worker’s job was to take recyclable material from the curb and put it into a waste collection truck. While performing these duties, the worker got out of the truck while it was still moving and the truck ran over the worker’s foot.
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Blog Post #283 – Insufficient Funding Is Biggest Barrier to Workplace Safety

Report from OHS Insider

A safety coordinator can have the best, most innovative safety programs in mind. But without the money to implement those programs, they may never see the light of day—and workplace safety may suffer as a result.

Lack of money seems to be a common problem for safety professionals. When we recently asked what the biggest barrier was to a safer workplace, you said:

• Insufficient funding (43%)
• Lack of leadership (34%)
• Lack of time (11%)
• Lack of training (5%).

Insufficient funding and lack of leadership are connected. After all, if your company’s senior management doesn’t believe that workplace safety is a priority and thus doesn’t lead the way on safety initiatives, they’re also unlikely to give the OHS program the money it needs to be fully effective.

My opinion,

So how do you make the business case for safety and convince senior management that investing in the OHS program will not only protect workers but also benefit the company financially?

The company needs to have the WSIB and MOL information concerning accidents and incidents in the workplace. The information is readily available and can show an employer that proper health and safety in the workplace does not have to be expensive but the lack of a H&S policy can be.

Training just has to meet the standards of the day, whether it is the ANSI standards in the US or CSA in Canada. It is incumbent on the employer to find out the facts and accept responsibility and work to protect the health and safety of their workforce.

Remember – In Ontario, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”

‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.

Daniel L. Beal
VP & Senior Trainer
HRSGroup Inc

Blog Post #282 – Company and Supervisor Fined $171,000 Total after Worker Injured

Excerpt from the Government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’

ThyssenKrupp Industrial Services Canada Inc., carrying on business as ThyssenKrupp Hearn Division, a provider of warehousing, packaging and transportation services, was fined $160,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a worker was injured. Don Hearn Jr., a supervisor, was fined $11,000 in relation to the same incident.
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Blog Post #281 – Drum Technician Crushed after Concert Stage Collapses

Excerpt from the OH&S Canada Magazine

In what is becoming an all-too-common occurrence in the summer months, an outdoor concert stage in Ontario has collapsed, leaving a mess of tangled steel, one worker dead and a lot of questions for the province’s safety regulator to sift through.

The centre section of the overhead portion of the stage came crashing down on June 16 at about 4 pm — just hours before English rock band Radiohead was set to take the stage to a sold-out crowd in Toronto’s Downsview Park, which boasts a capacity of 40,000.
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