Due Diligence Your Best Defense

In the past 24 months significant changes in Health and Safety law and enforcement policies have been enacted by both the Provincial and Federal governments. On Mar. 31, 2004, the Canadian government passed into law Bill C45. This new legislation is the final outcome of the Westray Mine disaster that happened in 1992 in Nova Scotia. The new law now makes it a criminal offense under the criminal code of Canada for health and safety violations. It cuts through the complexity of today’s organizational structures. This law makes everyone, including senior officers / board members, accountable. Under Section 219 of C45 everyone is criminally negligent whom:

(a)    in doing anything, or

(b)   in omitting to do anything that is his duty to do, show wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons.

 

This new federal legislation has been combined with the Ontario government’s initiative to hire 200 new Ministry of Labour inspectors. The death of healthcare workers related to the SARS crisis combined with many high risk procedures found in the healthcare environment, will undoubtedly make healthcare a target of increased enforcement activity. In fact many of our clients have reported increased inspections of their workplaces. 

The best defense against a health and safety violation is due diligence. The best way to accomplish this is to have a comprehensive and robust Health and Safety Program. It needs to be inclusive and have measurable and documented processes. Included, but not limited, to: 

• Worker Health and Safety training.
• Accident investigation with documented follow-up.
• Documented reinstruction of staff.
• Daily inspections of workplace by managers and supervisors that are documented.
• Job safety analysis.
• A robust Health and Safety Committee.
• A corporate Health and Safety Policy.

 

Evidence shows that the majority of violations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act continue to be a result of poor training, not enforcing company health and safety policies and inadequate documentation. Good documentation on all the above noted aspects of your health and safety program is the backbone to due diligence. Too often we find clients that have amazing programs, however, have not documented or reported their achievements to the senior levels of their organizations. 

One method that has gained prominence in many organizations is a safety accountability system. Similar to a balanced score card, key indicators on workplace health and safety activities are required to be completed and documented by managers each quarter or monthly. These indicators could include workplace inspections, employee training, employee re-instruction and accident investigation and follow-up. Indicators from every department in the organization are then reported to the senior management. The old saying of what gets measured gets done, echo’s true here. 

A successful health and safety program has employee evolvement, and is well understood by all levels of the organization. It will pay untold financial dividends, and may keep you from paying a large fine or serving time in jail.