An Ontario justice of the peace has held that an employer's
safety manual was defective, and has convicted the employer of four
charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The employer was charged after a worker was seriously injured
when he was hit by the bucket of an excavator while working in a
trench removing old pipes and replacing them with new ones.
The charges alleged a failure to adequately train the worker,
and failure to provide a competent, dedicated signaller who was
clear of the intended path of travel of the equipment.
The court stated that:
"[T]his court views the contents of the corporate Safety
Manual and the smaller Employee Safety and Environmental Handbook
to be lacking in efficiency. There was no reference to mandated
signals to be a standard use of communication between all
construction workers. The Safety Manual had a very short
description about the use of a ladder [to exit the trench].
There was conflicting information about
