CANADA Death of Volunteer Firefighter Charged to Supervisor

Following the death of a volunteer firefighter, two supervisors were charged with three safety violations and four other charges each according to Ontario’s Ministry of Labor. (MoL)

The 51-year-old veteran volunteer firefighter died when he became trapped under a large ice flow during an ice-water rescue training exercise as reported by Canadian OH&S News.

Three charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act were made against the Village of Point Edward, as an employer, for failing to take every reasonable precaution in the circumstances to ensure the protection of a worker, according to MoL spokesman, Matt Blajer. (WCxKit)

The two supervisors were charged with four counts each for failing, as supervisors, to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to ensure the protection of a worker.

Specifically, the village of Point Edward and each of the supervisors are charged with the following: failing to ensure adequate pre-training had been completed; failing to ensure there were an adequate number of rescuers on shore and adequate rescue equipment was provided and available; and failing to appoint a safety officer for the training exercise.

In addition, the supervisors have each been charged with failing to have an adequate training plan and an adequate pre-training briefing.

Barry Malmsten, the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs (OAFC's) executive director, points out that firefighter training exercises can be inherently dangerous due to the nature of the job. (WCxKit)

"The only way [firefighters] are really going to be able to cope with it when they hit an emergency and things are not controllable is you have to put them into those situations," Malmsten argues.

 
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