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Labour leaders are giving rare praise to the Alberta government for a revamped website that allows people to find out which employers have the highest number of workplace deaths and injuries

The government has put the information online since 2010 but critics said that the website was hard to search. The new version launched at the end of April changes that.

"Workers deserve to know which employers are taking health and safety seriously and which are not," said Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan, who calls the site a good first step.

Alberta Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour Minister Kyle Fawcett says searching under the old format was time-consuming.

"People would have been very unlikely to put in that time and effort," he said. "Now it's real easy and we think it's in a much more usable format."

However, Fawcett cautioned against taking the list at face value.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that it's an employer with a poor safety record. It is a real assessment of what injury rates, disabling rates occurred that year."

In terms of significant on-the-job injuries, Weisse Johnson was one of top 10 offenders in 2012 – something the company's co-owner feels is misleading.

"Almost all of our injuries are related to cuts and the odd twisted ankle carrying product in and out of houses," said Dennis Johnson.

However, he said the company has never had a serious injury.

"It's a little disheartening because people might get in their minds that we're a bad company to work for and that we don't work for their safety," he said. "Safety is one of our core values here at Weiss Johnson.

While McGowan is pleased the information is out there, he hopes the government uses it  to inspect and investigate employers with the highest rates of death and injury.

"The real test is whether or not the government will use this information to actually force employers to clean up their acts when it comes to workplace health and safety."

The site covers the period from 2008 to 2012, the most recent information available. Fawcett says the government is looking at updating the site.

CBC, 2014 June 11

Seeds of reform fail to germinate when report omits update to Occupational Health and Safety Act

Edmonton – Workers in Alberta's agriculture sector deserve better says the Alberta Federation of Labour.

The Alberta Farm Safety Advisory (AFSA) Council report, which was released by the government this week, failed to recommend the inclusion of farm workers in Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Farm workers are the only workers in Alberta who are excluded from the Act.

“Alison Redford promised change to Alberta's agricultural workers, but she's letting those promises go fallow.” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said. “More than 300 farm workers are seriously injured every year. Seventeen die each year. The results of this report will do little to change that.”

The AFSA Council had representatives from industry and government, but only one labour representative. Recommendations included:

Strategic, Province-wide Coordination and Awareness; Enhanced Educational Resources, Training and Certification; Farm-Related Policies and Guidelines; and Strengthening the agriculture workers component of the current Temporary Foreign Worker Advisory Office.

“Many farms in Alberta are already well run. These are the kinds of farms that will follow all the new guidelines, and all the new policies that come out of this report,” McGowan said. “The problem is that there are farms where you see the appalling labour practices. Those are the ones that won't improve their behaviour unless there is regulatory change.”

The report, which began almost two years ago, has been complete for more than a year, but the Alberta Government had been sitting on it. It was only made public on Tuesday. During the lead-up to her selection as Premier, Alison Redford promised to provide OHSA protection for farm workers.

“Alberta's agricultural workers deserve the same protections, same health and safety regulation that every other Albertan enjoys,” McGowan said. “Until the government acts, there will continue to be too many workplace accidents on Alberta's farms and agricultural operations.”

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Gil McGowan, President, Alberta Federation of Labour at 780-218-9888 (cell)
Olav Rokne, AFL Communications Director at 780-289-6528 (cell) or via email [email protected].

An Alberta judge has ordered the Canadian arm of a Chinese state-owned oil company to pay the biggest workplace safety fine in the province's history after the death of two foreign workers at a massive construction project about five years ago.

"The fine is good, but no amount of money can make up for what they did wrong in the first place," said Wayne Prins, Alberta director of the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC).

"In our view, the fine sends the right message to contractors and people in the industry that you must follow the procedures and rules in place."

Alberta Provincial Judge John Maher ordered Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company (SSEC) to pay a $1.5 million fine in a St. Albert court room on Jan. 24.

The fine is related to the deaths of a welder named Ge Genbao, 27, and an electrical engineer named Lui Hongliang, 33, at the Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNRL) Horizon oilsands project.

They were killed on April 27, 2007 at the facility located north of Fort McMurray.

The Chinese temporary foreign workers were welding the wall structure inside a massive storage tank when the roof support structure collapsed onto them.

Two other foreign workers were seriously injured.

Under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act, 53 charges were laid against three companies in the deaths of Genbao and Hongliang and the injuries of the other workers.

CNRL, who was in charge of the construction site at the Horizon oilsands project, hired SSEC to build the storage tanks.

SSEC is the Canadian subsidiary of Chinese state –owned oil company Sinopec.

Sinopec hired more than 100 temporary foreign workers in China and began work on the construction of two oil storage tanks in late 2006.

SSEC pled guilty to three charges in September 2012 of failing to ensure the health and safety of workers.

The company was given the maximum $500,000 fine for each charge. Despite this fact, some people believe the fine will do nothing to deter them from practices that endanger workers.

"Sinopec didn't just import workers from the third world, they also imported third-world health and safety standards," said Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan.

"Alberta missed its chance to send a message that Chinese companies working in the oilsands need to play by Canadian rules."

McGowan argued that the fines are too small to make a difference to the massive corporation.

"One and a half million dollars doesn't even amount to a rounding error in the annual budget of a monstrous global corporation like Sinopec," he said.

"This fine does nothing to dissuade them from playing fast and loose with the safety of their workforce."

The original plan was to build the tank walls first, then use them to support the roof while it was under construction.

That plan changed when the project fell behind schedule.

CNRL approved the construction change, but SSEC did not prepare any formal written procedures that should have been certified by a professional engineer.

As a result, other charges in this case include failing to ensure that a professional engineer prepared and certified drawings and procedures; failing to ensure the roof support structure inside the tank was stable during assembly; failing to ensure that U-bolt type clips used for fastening rope wire were installed properly; and failing to ensure that wire rope being used was safe.

"We shouldn't forget the circumstances that led to the deaths of Genbao and Hongliang," McGowan added.

"The company did not get the construction plans certified by an engineer. The wires weren't strong enough to hold up against the wind. It was a complete abdication of responsibility on the part of the employer."

Crown prosecutors and SSEC lawyers came up with an agreement, which allocates $1.3 million of the fine to create an education program to train temporary foreign workers about their legal rights, as well as workplace health and safety.

The program aims to hire 45 instructors to train about 5,500 workers in a three year period.

Journal of Commerce, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013
Byline: Richard Gilbert

A Canadian subsidiary of Sinopec, a Chinese state-owned oil corporation, was ordered to pay $1.5-million fine Thursday, approximately six years after a collapsing tank roof killed two Chinese workers at an oilsands construction site.

According to the province, the penalty is the largest workplace safety fine in Alberta's history.

The April 2007 incident occured at Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.'s Horizon project, approximately 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The workers – Ge Genbao, 28, and Lui Hongliang, 33 – were killed when the roof of a metal storage tank collapsed. Five other workers were also injured.

In late September, representatives from Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company Canada Ltd. appeared in a St. Albert courtroom and pleaded guilty to two charges related to the deaths of the workers, plus an additional third charge for failing to ensure the safety of two seriously injured workers.

According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, work on the storage tanks had begun to fall behind schedule at the time of the incident. SSEC Canada and CNRL began to construct the tanks walls and roofs simultaneously.

About three weeks after the new construction approach began, a cable supporting a roof snapped after strong winds and kinks weakened the wire.

The case originally involved a total of 53 charges against three different companies. During the lengthy court battle, charges against Sinopec were dropped and 29 charges against CNRL were stayed.

Despite the large fine, the Alberta Federation of Labour is calling the punishment smaller than a "rounding error in the annual budget of a monstrous global corporation like Sinopec," and that the fee will not serve as a lesson to the multi-billion dollar oilsands companies operating in northern Alberta.

"Alberta missed its chance to send a message that Chinese companies working in the oilsands need to play by Canadian rules," said AFL president Gil McGowan. "Sinopec didn't just import workers from the third-world, they also imported third-world health and safety standards."

Ft. McMurray Today, Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013
Byline: Vincent McDermott

ST. ALBERT, Alta. - A firm linked to a Chinese state-owned company was ordered Thursday to pay $1.5 million in penalties in the deaths of two foreign workers at an Alberta oilsands project.

SSEC Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty last September to three workplace safety charges in the deaths of the Chinese temporary foreign workers.

The men died in 2007 at Canadian Natural Resources' (TSX:CNQ) Horizon project near Fort McMurray when an oil storage tank they were building collapsed.

Alberta Justice spokeswoman Michelle Davio said the penalty is the largest ever imposed by a judge in the province on workplace safety charges.

"The penalty is made up of a $200,000 fine and $1.3 million payment to the Alberta Law Foundation that will be used to support outreach and education programs for temporary foreign workers and for workers who are new to Alberta," she said.

SSEC Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company Ltd.

The case involved a total of 53 charges involving three different companies, including Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources and Sinopec.

Charges against Sinopec were withdrawn. All 29 charges against CNRL were stayed, meaning the government can reactivate them at any time over one year.

According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, problems at the Horizon project began in 2006 when 132 Mandarin-speaking Chinese workers recruited by SSEC Canada were late in getting to the worksite.

Work on the large metal storage tanks fell behind schedule.

SSEC Canada proposed revised construction in which the tanks' walls and roofs would be built at the same time.

CNRL agreed to the revisions, but said the work should be done under its own construction management team which would supervise quality control and safety.

SSEC Canada began work using the new method before CNRL's team arrived on site, even though the procedures hadn't been certified by a professional engineer.

On April 24, 2007, about three weeks after SSEC Canada began using the new approach, a roof collapsed when the wire cables holding it up snapped after being kinked and torqued in high winds.

The two workers were crushed by falling steel. Five other Chinese workers were injured.

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, called the penalty "less than a drop in the bucket."

"This was an opportunity for the Alberta government to send a clear message to companies like Sinopec that if they want to do business in Canada, then they have to observe and follow our rules when it comes to workplace rights and health and safety," McGowan said.

The case was delayed for years by uncertainty over which company was responsible and whether they would be responsible as an employer, contractor or prime contractor.

Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Co. went to the Alberta Court of Appeal in a losing effort to argue that it hadn't been properly served with legal documents, since it had no presence in Canada.

The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear a challenge.

The Canadian Press, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013

ST. ALBERT - A Canadian subsidiary of Chinese state-owned oil giant Sinopec has been ordered to pay $1.5 million in penalties for failing to ensure the safety of two Chinese workers killed in a 2007 tank collapse at a work site in northern Alberta.

Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty to three charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in September. It was given the maximum $500,000 fine for each charge in a St. Albert courtroom Thursday.

The total penalty is the biggest workplace safety fine in Alberta's history and one of the biggest in Canada.

Two charges were related to the deaths of the two temporary foreign workers and the third was connected to two workers who were seriously injured.

As part of a creative sentencing agreement between Crown prosecutors and SSEC lawyers, $1.3 million of the fine will be used to educate temporary foreign workers on their legal rights.

Workers Ge Genbao, 28, and Lui Hongliang, 33, were killed on April 24, 2007 when the roof structure of a multi-storey metal holding tank collapsed at a work site 70 kilometres north of Fort McMurray. The site was part of the Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. $10.8-billion Horizon project.

Court has heard that SSEC Canada did not get the tank construction plan certified by an engineer. The wires securing the tank were not strong enough to hold up in even moderate winds, according to an agreed statement of facts.

"The accident almost had a sense of inevitability to it," said provincial court Judge John Maher. The judge said he was struck by the extent of the failure to comply by safety standards.

"This is a particularly egregious case," Maher said. "The size of the penalty is directionally proportional to the consequences of the act. It's hard to imagine in this case why it would not be a maximum penalty."

Crown prosecutor Marshall Hopkins said he was confident such a massive penalty would be an effective deterrent for other companies.

Kevin Flaherty, executive director of the Alberta Workers' Health Centre, said the money enables his group to "do some good work with a bad situation."

The $1.3 million will be used in a three-year program to train 45 people to educate temporary foreign workers about their rights and Alberta's workplace health laws. Flaherty said such workers are particularly vulnerable because they fear loss of their work visas if they speak up.

"They can't just walk across the street and get another job," Flaherty said. "We need to be a much better job of treating these workers as people when they arrive."

Flaherty expects the education program will reach 5,500 workers and spread further by word of mouth.

The Alberta Federation of Labour was not impressed by the court decision and called the fine "a slap on the wrist" that will not be a deterrent.

"One-and-a half-million dollars doesn't even amount to a rounding error in the annual budget of a monstrous global corporation like Sinopec," AFL president Gil McGowan said in a prepared statement. "This fine does nothing to dissuade them from playing fast and loose with the safety of their workforce."

SSEC was the direct employer of the workers and contracted by CNRL. SSEC recruited 132 Mandarin-speaking Chinese workers for the tank project.

The original plan was to build the tank walls first, then use them to support the roof while it was under construction. That plan changed when the project fell behind schedule.

CNRL approved the construction change, but SSEC did not prepare any formal written procedures that should have been certified by a professional engineer.

The construction of 13 tanks began on April 2, 2007. The collapse occurred three weeks later.

Hongliang, an electrician, was struck by a steel girder while standing on the partially completed wall. He died at the scene. His son, in China, was only a year old at the time. Genbao, a scaffolder, was on the floor of the tank and was crushed by falling steel. He died on the way to hospital. He is survived by four older sisters in China.

On Thursday afternoon, SSEC Canada issued a statement that expressed regret for the deaths and said it accepted Maher's ruling.

Sinopec had tried to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada on the grounds that it had no official presence in Canada and was not under the jurisdiction of a provincial justice system. The nation's top court refused to hear that appeal.

The Edmonton Journal, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013
Byline: Ryan Cormier

ST. ALBERT, Alta. – A firm linked to a Chinese state-owned company was ordered Thursday to pay $1.5 million in penalties in the deaths of two foreign workers at an Alberta oilsands project.

SSEC Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty last September to three workplace safety charges in the deaths of the Chinese temporary foreign workers.

The men died in 2007 at Canadian Natural Resources' (TSX:CNQ) Horizon project near Fort McMurray when an oil storage tank they were building collapsed.

Alberta Justice spokeswoman Michelle Davio said the penalty is the largest ever imposed by a judge in the province on workplace safety charges.

"The penalty is made up of a $200,000 fine and $1.3 million payment to the Alberta Law Foundation that will be used to support outreach and education programs for temporary foreign workers and for workers who are new to Alberta," she said.

SSEC Canada is the Canadian subsidiary of Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Company Ltd.

The case involved a total of 53 charges involving three different companies, including Calgary-based Canadian Natural Resources and Sinopec.

Charges against Sinopec were withdrawn. All 29 charges against CNRL were stayed, meaning the government can reactivate them at any time over one year.

According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, problems at the Horizon project began in 2006 when 132 Mandarin-speaking Chinese workers recruited by SSEC Canada were late in getting to the worksite.

Work on the large metal storage tanks fell behind schedule.

SSEC Canada proposed revised construction in which the tanks' walls and roofs would be built at the same time.

CNRL agreed to the revisions, but said the work should be done under its own construction management team which would supervise quality control and safety.

SSEC Canada began work using the new method before CNRL's team arrived on site, even though the procedures hadn't been certified by a professional engineer.

On April 24, 2007, about three weeks after SSEC Canada began using the new approach, a roof collapsed when the wire cables holding it up snapped after being kinked and torqued in high winds.

The two workers were crushed by falling steel. Five other Chinese workers were injured.

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, called the penalty "less than a drop in the bucket."

"This was an opportunity for the Alberta government to send a clear message to companies like Sinopec that if they want to do business in Canada, then they have to observe and follow our rules when it comes to workplace rights and health and safety," McGowan said.

The case was delayed for years by uncertainty over which company was responsible and whether they would be responsible as an employer, contractor or prime contractor.

Sinopec Shanghai Engineering Co. went to the Alberta Court of Appeal in a losing effort to argue that it hadn't been properly served with legal documents, since it had no presence in Canada.

The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear a challenge.

Saskatchewan prosecutes four times as many cases

The province's workplace safety prosecution record is drawing fire, as new figures show signifi cantly fewer cases were taken to court last year than in Saskatchewan, with a workforce one-quarter the size of Alberta's.

Alberta wrapped up prosecutions on 11 workplace safety cases in 2010. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, has completed 47 cases since its fiscal year began nine months ago.

Connie Field, whose 28-year-old son Jake was electrocuted at a southern Alberta job site in 2006, said the gap between the two provinces is unacceptable.

"Justice is not being done," said Field, who remains frustrated that occupational charges weren't laid in her son's death despite a government probe pointing to safety problems.

"The only way they're going to change is to hit them hard, which is the pocketbook."

Throughout the past decade, Alberta consistently had one of the highest worker fatality rates in the country, spiking at 166 deaths three years ago. Yet a Herald investigation last year showed prosecutions of workplace safety violations were rare.

Alberta Justice declined to comment Thursday on the province's prosecution rate, deferring questions to Alberta Employment.

Alberta Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk said his workplace investigators forward cases to Crown lawyers for review but, as a politician, he can't press for charges, even when safety infractions are found.

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan rely on similar legal tests when determining whether to issue occupational safety charges, asking: Is the case in the public interest and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction?

Asked whether he's worried about the perception that Alberta is reluctant to take employers who break safety laws to court, Lukaszuk said he's not fixated on the prosecution rate.

"Justice is not a numbers game," the employment minister said. "At the end of the day, I'm not in the business of generating numbers of prosecutions. I'm not in the business of convictions.

"I'm in the business of making

sure that every Albertan comes home safe at the end of the shift."

Alberta Employment statistics released Thursday show worker deaths last year were ahead of the previous year's pace. With two months left to count, 111 employees died in 2010, compared with 85 during the same stretch in 2009.

The province recently revamped its workplace safety enforcement system, hiring additional inspectors, posting company safety records online, and targeting high-risk industries for safety blitzes.

Field, however, contends these measures are "window dressing." If the province was serious about cracking down on safety breaches,

she believes more employers would face court action.

NDP MLA Rachel Notley and union leader Gil McGowan agree.

"It's clear that Alberta is still lagging behind other provinces in terms of prosecutions for workplace health and safety violations," said McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"The minister talks a tough game and he likes to say his government is willing to put its money where its mouth is, but these numbers suggest to me that's not happening."

Workplace safety prosecutions have ramped up in Saskatchewan since the province introduced a zero-tolerance policy for violations involving inadequate fall protection at construction sites.

Glennis Bihun, executive director of Saskatchewan's occupational health and safety division, said roughly three-quarters of the 60 prosecutions launched in 2010-11 stem from its zero-tolerance approach.

"In those occasions where the risk to life is extremely high or in those infrequent occasions where there isn't a desire for compliance, there needs to be a penalty or a consequence," Bihun said.

In Alberta, occupational safety charges are rarely laid unless a worker is seriously injured or killed. The province's Employment Department notes Saskatchewan has a significantly higher worker injury frequency than Alberta. However, several safety experts contend comparing injury rates is difficult because tracking systems often vary widely from province to province.

Last month, Alberta's employment minister expressed disgust at the results of an inspection blitz of Alberta construction sites.

For six weeks in October and November, provincial workplace officers visited 73 commercial construction sites involving 146 employers in Calgary, Edmonton and other parts of Alberta.

In all, 214 safety violations were discovered. Top hazards involved working at heights without adequate fall protection and failing to properly safeguard against threats, such as openings in floors.

Notley of the NDP argues Alberta should follow Saskatchewan's model and target violations before employees are maimed. "What Alberta has to do is . . . prosecute any violation which undermines the culture of safety.

"Those seemingly less significant violations are as integral to the accidents that ultimately happen. All violations need to be taken seriously," said Notley.

Calgary Herald, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012
Byline: Renata D'aliesio, Calgary Herald

Saskatchewan prosecutes four times as many cases

The province's workplace safety prosecution record is drawing fire, as new figures show signifi cantly fewer cases were taken to court last year than in Saskatchewan, with a workforce one-quarter the size of Alberta's.

Alberta wrapped up prosecutions on 11 workplace safety cases in 2010. Saskatchewan, meanwhile, has completed 47 cases since its fiscal year began nine months ago.

Connie Field, whose 28-year-old son Jake was electrocuted at a southern Alberta job site in 2006, said the gap between the two provinces is unacceptable.

"Justice is not being done," said Field, who remains frustrated that occupational charges weren't laid in her son's death despite a government probe pointing to safety problems.

"The only way they're going to change is to hit them hard, which is the pocketbook."

Throughout the past decade, Alberta consistently had one of the highest worker fatality rates in the country, spiking at 166 deaths three years ago. Yet a Herald investigation last year showed prosecutions of workplace safety violations were rare.

Alberta Justice declined to comment Thursday on the province's prosecution rate, deferring questions to Alberta Employment.

Alberta Employment Minister Thomas Lukaszuk said his workplace investigators forward cases to Crown lawyers for review but, as a politician, he can't press for charges, even when safety infractions are found.

Both Alberta and Saskatchewan rely on similar legal tests when determining whether to issue occupational safety charges, asking: Is the case in the public interest and is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction?

Asked whether he's worried about the perception that Alberta is reluctant to take employers who break safety laws to court, Lukaszuk said he's not fixated on the prosecution rate.

"Justice is not a numbers game," the employment minister said. "At the end of the day, I'm not in the business of generating numbers of prosecutions. I'm not in the business of convictions.

"I'm in the business of making

sure that every Albertan comes home safe at the end of the shift."

Alberta Employment statistics released Thursday show worker deaths last year were ahead of the previous year's pace. With two months left to count, 111 employees died in 2010, compared with 85 during the same stretch in 2009.

The province recently revamped its workplace safety enforcement system, hiring additional inspectors, posting company safety records online, and targeting high-risk industries for safety blitzes.

Field, however, contends these measures are "window dressing." If the province was serious about cracking down on safety breaches,

she believes more employers would face court action.

NDP MLA Rachel Notley and union leader Gil McGowan agree.

"It's clear that Alberta is still lagging behind other provinces in terms of prosecutions for workplace health and safety violations," said McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

"The minister talks a tough game and he likes to say his government is willing to put its money where its mouth is, but these numbers suggest to me that's not happening."

Workplace safety prosecutions have ramped up in Saskatchewan since the province introduced a zero-tolerance policy for violations involving inadequate fall protection at construction sites.

Glennis Bihun, executive director of Saskatchewan's occupational health and safety division, said roughly three-quarters of the 60 prosecutions launched in 2010-11 stem from its zero-tolerance approach.

"In those occasions where the risk to life is extremely high or in those infrequent occasions where there isn't a desire for compliance, there needs to be a penalty or a consequence," Bihun said.

In Alberta, occupational safety charges are rarely laid unless a worker is seriously injured or killed. The province's Employment Department notes Saskatchewan has a significantly higher worker injury frequency than Alberta. However, several safety experts contend comparing injury rates is difficult because tracking systems often vary widely from province to province.

Last month, Alberta's employment minister expressed disgust at the results of an inspection blitz of Alberta construction sites.

For six weeks in October and November, provincial workplace officers visited 73 commercial construction sites involving 146 employers in Calgary, Edmonton and other parts of Alberta.

In all, 214 safety violations were discovered. Top hazards involved working at heights without adequate fall protection and failing to properly safeguard against threats, such as openings in floors.

Notley of the NDP argues Alberta should follow Saskatchewan's model and target violations before employees are maimed. "What Alberta has to do is . . . prosecute any violation which undermines the culture of safety.

"Those seemingly less significant violations are as integral to the accidents that ultimately happen. All violations need to be taken seriously," said Notley.

Calgary Herald, Wednesday, Dec 5, 2012
Byline:  Renata D'aliesio

CALGARY — A Redford government plan to target employers who repeatedly defy the province's safety laws with new penalties of up to $10,000 is being opposed by an industry group representing 2,000 construction firms.

The Alberta Construction Association says the government's new laws to implement administrative penalties next year are too vague, complicated and there's no proof that they'll be effective in making work sites safer.

"There's a presumption that employers are the bad guys, and we'll just ramp up the fines and we'll fix those bad guys," Ken Gibson, executive director of the association, said Wednesday.

"It's not evidence-based. There's no suggestion we can see that it actually is going to work."

Gibson said the association is in favour of a separate government plan that will allow provincial health and safety officers to hand out on-the-spot tickets to everyone on a job site, including owners and workers. The ticket system will help discourage more straightforward safety infractions on job sites, such as an employee who refuses to wear a helmet, he said.

Despite the concerns, the Redford government is pushing forward in the legislature with the two sets of new workplace penalties.

Administrative penalties — spelled out in Bill 6, the Protections and Compliance Statutes Amendment Act — will apply mostly to employers who break the law, and will allow for penalties of up to $10,000.

"There've been discussions with various employers' groups on this," Human Services Minister Dave Hancock said Wednesday, adding it's "normal" to have some opposition to new penalties.

The government's second move on workplace safety fines will be through a ticketing system, to be brought into force through regulations next year. It will allow for both workers and owners to be ticketed to the tune of hundreds of dollars, he explained.

"They're basically something that will sting a little if it goes to a worker, but it's not devastating," Hancock said.

But the ticketing plan is being panned by groups representing workers, who call it a "blame-the-victim" approach.

"At the end of the day, workplace safety is primarily the responsibility of employers and government, as regulator," said Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

McGowan noted that, in court, companies can be hit with a fine as high as $500,000 for a first offence. He's concerned the administrative penalties, which top out at $10,000, will replace full legal prosecutions against companies that break the law.

Not all businesses are opposed to the new administrative penalties.

"Right now there are employers in the province of Alberta who are not taking safety seriously," said Dave Fennell, senior safety adviser for Imperial Oil Resources, noting there was one week last month when five Alberta workers died on separate job sites.

"Just like any other law in the province, you need to be held accountable," Fennell said. "If the administrative fines are a way of making these employers accountable, then we are supportive of that."

The Wildrose party wants the proceeds of such workplace fines to be put into a dedicated safety fund, instead of flowing into general government revenues.

The NDP and Alberta Liberals say although they generally support the government's push for tougher penalties, one issue that remains outstanding is the lack of coverage for paid farm workers under the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Workers' Compensation Act.

Under questioning from the opposition, the Tory government said Wednesday it's still working on a response to a report completed last February from the Farm Safety Advisory council, a government-appointed group that's made recommendations on improving the industry's safety record.

Calgary Herald, Thurs Nov 1 2012
Byline: Kelly Cryderman