CLAC / Alternative to Traditional Building Trade Union Work Plans

CLAC / Alternative to Traditional Building Trade Union Work Plans

Bidding against a BTU industrial contractor in Western Canada? We can help. We’ve supported FEED, construction, maintenance & shutdown work since 2000. We know precisely how to position the labour component to come out on top.

Our firm is specifically looking to support non-Building Trade Union work scopes in Alberta and British Columbia in the:

  • construction,
  • maintenance,
  • shutdown, or
  • pipeline work.

We develop the plan and source the right industrial talent for your work sites.

 

Workplace Safety Emphasis Reinforced by Recent OHS Fines in Sask.

Workplace Safety Emphasis Reinforced by Recent OHS Fines in Sask.

This report is inspired by an article written by Jeffrey Grubb & Amy Groothuis, of Miller Thompson LLP. The Importance Of Workplace Safety

Since the inception of the Saskatchewan employment act in 2014, fines have increased in Saskatchewan’s province for Occupational Health & Safety violations. Currently, fines are statutorily set to a maximum of $1.5 million for corporations and up to $500,000 for unincorporated companies.

Recently, in January 2018, a Saskatchewan corporate employer was fined $420,000 for a workplace fatality that occurred three years ago.

Employers are required to ensure the health and safety of the workplace through:

  • proper training,
  • supplying personal protective equipment,
  • guarding against the hazard,
  • ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place, in addition to
  • maintaining a health and safety committee.

In addition, employers need to ensure:

  • training for managers and supervisors is in place,
  • that supervisors are capable,
  • supervisors and managers instill a culture of safety at the workplace, which raises their team members’ comfort to raise potential dangers or dangers while at work.

Failure to do this properly results in significant fines for employers.

Workforce delivery provides training for the adoption, implementation and administration of policies associated with safety, including violence, harassment, bullying and respect. Besides, WFD provides training on safety rule enforcement for supervisors and managers.

 

Banned from Public Pool for Requesting a Hot Female Trainer

Banned from Public Pool for Requesting a Hot Female Trainer

This report is inspired by an article written by Jeffrey Grubb & Amy Groothuis, of Miller Thompson LLP. The Importance Of Workplace Safety

An individual was banned from a public pool for specifically requesting a hot female trainer in an email to the staff.

The banned individual subsequently filed a human rights complaint against the public pool, alleging a medical condition that contributed to this behaviour.

The BC Human Rights Tribunal dismissed the application on the basis of:

  • no medical evidence was presented, together, 
  • a lack of any known or readily observable behaviour that would create the “duty to inquire” into whether or not the individual had a medical condition or disability that influenced his actions.

The tribunal also stated that as the request was provided for in an email, the complainant’s email does not reflect an uncontrollable comment or blurt but rather a reflection of intentional and contemplative thought.

The conclusion of this human rights application is obvious, but the reasons may appear nuanced to some. Duty to inquire and duty to accommodate can be tricky for employers and corporations otherwise obliged to human rights acts, particularly in BC. It is worth a risk assessment or policy and/or work rule audit before engaging in BC work.