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5 mars 2010
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Photo: Marie-Josée Rousseau
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Safety in the Workplace and Quality of Repairs
You Have a Legal Responsibility
Did you know that if one of your employees is assigned a task for which he isn’t trained, or if he isn’t aware of the health and safety program in place at your facility, you or your representatives could be charged with criminal negligence?
The same could be true for a car accident involving bodily injuries or death that is found to have been caused by a previous repair done in a rough-and-ready fashion, or without respecting the manufacturer’s procedures and standards.
Bill C-45
Bill C-45, enacted as a law in 2004, modifies the Criminal Code to allow for a business to be prosecuted for criminal negligence towards its employees (Article 217.1) or its clients (Article 219).
How does this affect a collision repair centre?
First, it does affect your responsibility as an employer with respect to occupational health and safety. Second, it affects your responsibility as a service provider.
Criminal negligence
Article 217.1 of the Criminal Code states that you have the responsibility, as an employer, to ensure that your workplace does not represent, for your employees and the general public, any hazards of bodily injuries or even death; it also states that you have the obligation to take “the necessary measures” to ensure their safety. You are bound to know your obligations under the laws and standards relating to occupational health and safety, the potential hazards in your repair shop, and the measures undertaken to circumscribe or eliminate them.
Employer’s obligation
You must also communicate your occupational health and safety plan to your employees and train them on any potential hazards and on the use of protective equipment. In the event you are not taking these measures, and an accident occurs in your repair shop causing bodily injuries and even death, you could be facing sanctions and heavy fines. In other words, if the Workers Compensation Centre concludes that there was negligence following a serious injury or the death of one of your employees while working in your workplace, a police investigation will follow, which could lead to charges of criminal negligence*.
In addition, criminal responsibility can now be attributed to the owners, managers, employees, representatives, or sub-contractors of a business, depending on the nature of the offence, as opposed to the “legal entity” as was the case in the past.
Quality of repairs
For its part, article 219 of the Criminal Code stipulates that, “…Everyone is criminally negligent who, in doing anything, or in omitting to do anything that it is his duty to do, shows wanton or reckless disregard for the lives or safety of other persons.”
Needless to say that you have the obligation, as a collision repair facility owner, to ensure that every car repaired in your facility is being repaired in accordance with the standards and requirements of the car manufacturer. It is fairly simple to avoid finding yourself in such a situation: first, contact the Workers Compensation Centre to obtain information about the measures you need to take in order to ensure the safety and security of your employees; second, make sure all your employees know and apply the standard repair procedures of the car manufacturer. You are in the driver’s seat…
www.cchst.ca/oshanswers/legisl/billc45.html
* Until now, there have only been three cases leading to accusations.
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François Charron