Employer Fine Reduced: Worker’s Actions Contributed to Accident
In a reminder that workers and employers both have a responsibility regarding safety, the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (WCAT) in British Columbia has ruled that an administrative penalty should be reduced by 20%, after it was determined that a worker’s actions partially contributed to the accident in which he was injured.
The decision alters a WorkSafeBC order from November, 2007 that imposed a $29,500 administrative penalty against the employer in question. The ordered reduction will reduce the penalty to about $23,500.
The accident in question occurred on September 8, 2006, when a worker’s arm was severed by an auger attached to a mobile concrete mixer at a construction site. The amputation occurred when the auger was activated while the worker, with his arm in the mechanism, was replacing wear plates.
The employer argued that the worker completed a four-hour orientation, including a review of the mixer’s safety manual. The worker also took part in a general safety meeting with the shop superintendant and received instruction on three procedures for isolating power to the auger. The employer contended that this was a classic case of a properly trained and supervised worker “engaging in an independent action.”
The ruling found that there was “a lack of adequate training and supervision, given the lack of clarity or certainty as to the nature of the job duties the worker was expected to perform.” At the end of each day, the worker had a variety of cleaning duties, including checking for worn wear plates by hand. The ruling found “some merit in (the employer’s) argument that the worker, as a journeyman working with the operator’s manual, should have been following the instructions in the manual.”
But the ruling said that the fact that the worker was an experienced mechanic “does not mean the employer was thereby relieved of responsibility for instruction, training and supervision.” The employer took steps following the accident to implement detailed safety work procedures and retained the services of an independent expert to provide a report to help prevent future accidents of this type.
Still, the worker “may be viewed as having shared in the responsibility” for the accident. The ruling found that “a downward variation in the amount of the penalty is warranted on the basis that the worker’s actions contributed to the accident.”
Once more, it’s clear; it’s not just the employer who pays when a worker is hurt. Workers have a responsibility to keep themselves safe, as well.
Tags: fine, workplace safety
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