Irving Shipbuilding Inc. is scheduled to stand trial in March 2012 on Occupational Health and Safety Act charges stemming from an industrial accident that injured a worker at the Halifax Shipyard three years ago.

The accident that led to the charges occurred on March 4, 2008, when a 50-year-old worker who was performing maintenance on the dry dock fell about six metres. Emergency personnel were called, and the worker was taken to hospital with unspecified injuries. The Nova Scotia Labour Department immediately launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the fall.

The result of that investigation led to the Labour department charging Irving Shipbuilding with four offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act: failing to protect employees from a hazard of falling, failing to ensure there were adequate guardrails, failing to make sure workers entering a confined space wore full body harnesses; and failing to ensure the worker who fell had been provided with confined-space training.

The company had originally scheduled to go to trial in Halifax provincial court this coming September, but lawyers appeared before Judge Anne Derrick last week to ask for postponement, and she rescheduled the trial for 10 days, beginning March 5.

Halifax Shipyard is one of four yards, along with Seaspan Marine Inc. in Vancouver, Seaway Marine and Industrial in Ontario, and the Davie Yards in Quebec, who are bidding on Ottawa’s $35-billion national shipbuilding program. Irving Shipbuilding Inc. hopes to land the bulk of the contract, about $25 billion worth of work building 20 navy vessels.

According to an economic impact study done by the Conference Board of Canada, if they win the combat vessel contract, it could mean more than 11,000 new jobs in Nova Scotia by 2020, the height of construction. The deadline for bids is July 21, with a decision expected in September.

Ontario-based Goldcorp Canada Ltd., a mining operation doing business as Musselwhite Mine, an underground gold mining operation, was fined $50,000 last week for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a Ministry of Labour (MoL) inspection.

A Ministry inspector visited the Musselwhite Mine, located about 650 kilometers northwest of Thunder Bay, on November 14, 2009. As the inspector reviewed the mine’s training records, it was determined that one of the mine’s workers was not registered as fully trained in all of the prescribed training programs required for work in a hard rock underground mine.

As a result of that inspection, Goldcorp Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that a worker was trained as prescribed. Justice of the Peace Edith Baas imposed the $50,000, and also imposed the statutorily required 25% victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.

A failure to properly train one worker cost the company a total of $62,500.

In a remarkable accident last week, a Montreal driver crashed his car through a temporary fence and plunged 12 metres into an excavation pit at a construction site, and managed to survive the impact. The accident happened at around 11 p.m. the night of July 14, near the intersection of Bleury Street and Rene Levesque Boulevard downtown.

After the accident, firefighters spent an hour trying to rescue the man, using the Jaws of Life to cut off the vehicle roof, then pulling him up on a stretcher to street level and into a waiting ambulance. Witnesses at the scene remarked that it was amazing that the driver survived, given that the construction site featured concrete slabs at the bottom, with dozens of large metal rods sticking straight up.

Investigators are looking into the accident. It appears that the driver was travelling south on Bleury when he lost control of his car and veered off into the construction site. In addition to speaking to the driver, which they will do when he’s healthy enough, they are looking at surveillance tapes, examining the car and, of course, they’re awaiting for the results of blood alcohol tests.

Quebec’s workplace health and safety board closed the worksite overnight, but it was re-opened at 7 a.m., subject to the condition that concrete barriers be placed around the site by end of the next day, not just to protect drivers, but also to protect construction workers on the site from falling in as well.

One road construction worker was killed and two others injured after a car slammed into a road work crew in St. John’s, Newfoundland on July 5. The accident is being investigated by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC).

A single vehicle was traveling eastbound behind several other vehicles in the curb lane on the Outer Ring Road between Topsail Road and Thorburn Road. When the vehicles in front of him slowed rather suddenly, the driver swerved into the median lane to avoid a rear-end collision, lost control of the vehicle and collided with the three road workers. Preliminary information indicates that speed appears not to have been a factor in the collision.

Paramedics on the scene pronounced one of the workers, who was in his 50s, dead at the scene. The other two workers sustained serious injuries and were transported to the Health Sciences Center. The RNC then closed the accident site to examine the scene more closely. They are inspecting all vehicles involved in the accident, and a number of witnesses have been interviewed. The RNC is also putting out the word that they would like anyone who witnessed the collision to come forward with information.

Since the beginning of this year, all flaggers and other traffic control persons (TCPs) in Newfoundland and Labrador are required to complete a training course delivered by trainers who are approved by the provincial Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (WHSCC). The mandatory training prepares such workers to safely and competently perform traffic control duties by providing them with knowledge and skills consistent with industry and legislative standards. The certification training is valid for three years, at which time the course must be completed again, for the TCP to be recertified.

A British Columbia roofing worker for Weather Tight Supplies died last week after he fell through a skylight at the vacation home of former provincial premier Gordon Campbell.

The worker, Dave Lesko of Sechelt, was working on renovations to the vacant waterfront property in Halfmoon Bay, when the accident occurred around 1 p.m. According to neighbors, at least two fire department trucks and two ambulances arrived quickly, and an air ambulance took the injured worker to a Vancouver hospital, where he died from his injuries the next day.

WorkSafeBC is conducting an investigation, as is Weather Tight Supplies, who is required to conduct its own investigation and report the findings to WorkSafeBC. The twin investigations will focus on determining the nature of his activity, what he was doing and how and why he fell.

Security company Garda was slapped with $92,750 in penalties last week for failing to protect a female guard who was raped by an intruder at an unsecure construction site nearly five years ago.

The fine itself was small; just $5,000 plus a $750 victim fine surcharge. But Alberta provincial court Judge Marlene Graham also assessed the company an $87,000 payment, which will go to the Hazard Assessment Working Alone program at SAIT Polytechnic, a safety training program for lone workers, beginning in September 2012

At the time of the assault, the victim had only lived in Canada for three years and had only been issued her security guard licence by Garda three weeks before the assault.

This is believed to be the first prosecution in Alberta, and possibly the first in Canada, in which a company has been charged under the OHSA after an employee working alone was the victim of a crime.

The court said Garda’s primary negligence was in failing to conduct a specific site assessment. The judge said, “In my view, this was very obviously a dangerous and unsafe site. It was an outdoor site just off Macleod Trail. There was an exit door at the back that was always locked. One wonders why you’d have an exit door if it’s always locked.” She also noted that the front of the site was covered by an unsecured orange tarp flap. The victim had been provided with a chair, but no means of protection from anyone who might venture on to the site.

The judge also noted, “There was a high degree of probability an intruder might enter at night in winter, for warmth or to take construction material … who knows what else. … It was also foreseeable that a criminal act could happen. It was patently unsafe and not addressed by Garda. It showed a high degree of negligence. (The victim) was affected profoundly by the sexual and physical assault. … Garda is not to be prosecuted for the act of the intruder, but for its own negligence.”

An Edmonton mine worker who was injured while working at the Minto Mine in Yukon is suing the owner of the mine, Capstone Mining, and mine contractor and former employer Pelly Construction, for damages for his injuries.

The worker, Timothy Hansen, filed a statement of claim in Yukon Supreme Court last week. The accident that led to the suit occurred in July 2009, as he was operating a Caterpillar 330 loader, and rocks and debris fell from above, striking his head and body. The claim does not specify whether the rocks fell from the worker’s own loader bucket or elsewhere. At the time, he was taken to hospital and diagnosed with traumatic brain injury and musculoskeletal injuries.

In his suit, Hansen says he continues to suffer pain and a lack of function in his left hand and arm, as well as emotional distress. He claims that he continues to receive medical treatment for his injuries and to have a reduced quality of life, a reduced ability to earn money, and an ”impaired ability to engage in occupational, domestic, social and recreational activities.”

The suit also accuses two fellow employees of negligence leading to a lack of safety guards on the loader, a broken cab window, and a lack of other safety equipment. He claims he told one of the individuals his concerns, yet alleges nothing was done to address them.

His suit asks the court to grant him regular and special damages, as well as claiming his insured benefits on behalf of the Yukon government.

Three workers at the Royal Canadian Mint in Ottawa are reportedly okay after inhaling chemical fumes at the facility on the morning of May 27.

According to the mint, chemical vapours were apparently released from the waste water treatment system at the refinery. A spokesman for the mint said the workers, aged 51, 58 and 35 were immediately taken to hospital to be checked out and were released hours later. Two of the men were exposed when they rescued their co-worker by pulling him away from the fumes.

A hazardous materials team determined there was no need to evacuate the entire building, and the area where the fumes were released was isolated and ventilated. An Ottawa fire department spokesman later said there was no danger to the public because the fumes were contained. Normal production continued at the mint in all non-affected areas, including public tours.

Meanwhile, the cause of the incident is under investigation.

Young people aged 14 and 15 in Saskatchewan who are looking for a summer job should be aware that they must complete the Young Worker Readiness Certificate Course (YWRCC) and print out a certificate before taking any job.

Such young workers can apply for and interview for jobs before completing the certificate, but the certificate must be presented to their boss by their first day of work. Employers are required to keep a copy of the certificate in their files for every one of their employees in that age group.

Young workers under 16 must also have the consent of their parent or guardian, are not allowed to work after 10 p.m. on a school night, and cannot work more than 16 hours during a school week.

The YWRCC, which was launched in February 2010, has been completed by more than 5,600 young people to date. A number of schools throughout the province have incorporated the YWRCC materials into their curriculum. The purpose of the YWRCC course materials is to make young workers aware of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace.

The YWRCC course materials are available in French and English at www.lrws.gov.sk.ca/ywrcc. The English version of the test can be completed and submitted online. The French version, however, can be requested from Labour Standards to be completed on paper.

A 35-year-old mine worker was killed in a workplace accident deep underground at Mosaic Co.’s Colonsay, Saskatchewan mine last week.

According to reports, the man was driving down a mine corridor when his vehicle flipped, which caused him to sustain serious injuries. Shortly after paramedics arrived on the scene at about 11:30 am, he was pronounced dead.

The mine site shut down operations following the incident, and Saskatchewan Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) investigators were at the mine by 1 pm, where they remained for most of the afternoon. Investigators plan to look at whether everyone involved was following OHS regulations, and say their examination of the incident could take three months. The provincial coroner is also assisting the investigation.

The United Steelworkers union also plans to aid in the investigations, due to their concern over the fact that five Steelworkers have lost their lives on the job over the course of three weeks – two in forestry and three in mining.