Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
Harbour Sports Grille, a sports bar/restaurant carrying on business in Toronto as 1407640 Ontario Limited, has been convicted on 13 violations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and fined $110,000.
A Ministry of Labour inspector issued various orders at this workplace between June 2011 and December 2011. The company was subsequently charged with failing to comply with 13 orders. These orders addressed a variety of safety issues including the lack of a joint health and safety committee, required policies and programs (health and safety, violence and harassment), material safety data sheets and safety mechanisms such as guards.
Following a trial, Harbour Sports Grille was found guilty of failing to comply with the inspector’s orders and was fined $110,000. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Mary Anne Ross-Hendricks.
In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
My opinion
The law(s) in contravention:
Harbour Sports Grille was found guilty of a contravention of section 66, subsection 1(b) of the OHSA which states,
“Every person who contravenes or fails to comply with,
(a) A provision of this Act or the regulations;
(b) An order or requirement of an inspector or a Director; or
guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $25,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than twelve months, or to both.”
“If a corporation is convicted of an offence under subsection (1), the maximum fine that may be imposed upon the corporation is $500,000 and not as provided therein.”
Every employer must be in compliance with the OHSA and appropriate regulations; there are no exceptions!
I guess the sports bar felt that they are not to be included with the rest of us. WRONG! The laws are there to protect the employees and if companies do not see the benefit of compliance, the Ministry of Labour (MOL) has many weapons at their disposal to ensure the message is delivered loud and clear.
Now, the reader may view the $110,000 fine as extreme but think of what a preventable accident could very well cost. There were so many non-compliances here that the MOL had to get their attention.
By the way, there are many sections of the OHSA that were in non-compliance. The fines could have been much greater.
Remember – In Ontario, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”
HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs including ‘Due Diligence’, ‘Chemical Safety, ‘Machine Guarding’ and ‘Standard Operating Procedures’. Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259.
‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.
Daniel L. Beal – CHSEP – Advanced
VP & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.