Alberta Workplaces Lack Fall Protection and Proper Safeguarding

Albertas workplace safety prosecution record is drawing fire, as new numbers indicate significantly fewer cases were taken to court last year than in Saskatchewan, with a workforce one-quarter the size of Albertas.

According to the Calgary Herald, Alberta finalized prosecutions on 11 workplace safety cases in 2010. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, has completed 47 cases since its fiscal year started nine months ago.

Throughout the past decade, Alberta consistently had one of the highest worker fatality rates in the country, spiking at 166 deaths three years ago. Yet a Herald study last year showed prosecutions of workplace safety violations were all but non-existent.

Alberta Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk reports his workplace investigators forward cases to Crown lawyers for review but, as a politician, he can't advocate for charges, even when safety infractions are discovered.

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan rely on similar legal tests when deciding whether to issue occupational safety charges, asking: Is the case in the public interest and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction?

Questioned on whether hes concerned regarding the perception that Alberta is reluctant to take employers who break safety laws to court, Lukaszuk indicated he's not fixated on the prosecution rate.

"Justice is not a numbers game," the employment minister remarked. "At the end of the day, Im not in the business of generating numbers of prosecutions. Im not in the business of convictions. I'm in the business of making sure that every Albertan comes home safe at the end of the shift."

Alberta Employment statistics indicate worker deaths last year were ahead of the previous years pace. With two months left to count, 111 employees died in 2010, compared with 85 during the same stretch in 2009.

The province not long ago revamped its workplace safety enforcement system, hiring additional inspectors, posting company safety records online, and targeting high-risk industries for safety blitzes.

Last month, Albertas employment minister expressed disgust at the results of an inspection blitz of Alberta construction sites.

For six weeks in October and November, provincial workplace officers paid calls on 73 commercial construction sites involving 146 employers in Calgary, Edmonton and other parts of Alberta. In all, 214 safety violations were found.

Top hazards involved working at heights without adequate fall protection and failing to properly safeguard against threats, like openings in floors.

Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers Compensation costs, including airlines, healthcare, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. See www.LowerWC.com for more information. Contact: [email protected] or 860-553-6604.

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