Much has been, and continues to be, written about the corporate
due diligence defence in Occupational Health and Safety
Act prosecutions. Scores, if not hundreds, of articles have
been written both about what it means and how courts will assess
due diligence once it has been raised.
Obviously, these topics are important and businesses that employ
workers benefit greatly from them. Unfortunately, one point that is
often missed in the mix is the absolutely critical role that record
keeping plays in establishing due diligence. This article aims to
remedy that.
The point is made by numerous cases, including the following
relatively recent examples: Ontario (Ministry of Labour) v.
Algoma Tubes Inc.1 and R. v. Wal-Mart Canada
Corp.2
