Examples of “creative sentences” for an environmental violation include community service or payments to a particular environmental organization or activity, such as a school, non-profit or other group doing environmental work or research. Courts may only impose creative sentences if the law specifically permits them to do so.

A recent decision of the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (“the Tribunal”) has significantly expanded the scope of entitlement for workplace events that cause traumatic mental stress.Traditionally, traumatic mental stress benefits were only granted when a claimant experienced a traumatic event which presented …

The penalties collected in 2011 in Alberta for OHS violations totaled more than $3.4 million—doubling the $1.7 million collected by the province in 2010. More than $2.3 million was in creative sentences paid to third parties, such as post-secondary institutions, training programs, rescue societies and …

If you like legislation, 2011 wasn’t your year. True, Ontario OHS reform, Bill 160, was the year’s biggest compliance story and BC Bill 14 extending workers’ comp coverage to gradual mental stress, was also a blockbuster. But most of the big compliance happenings across Canada …

Environmental law has become increasingly focused on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For example, federal environmental law and the laws in several provinces now require certain companies to report their emissions of designated GHGs. (For more information, see “Climate Change: Complying with GHG Reporting Requirements,” …

Musculoskeletal injuries or disorders (MSIs and MSDs respectively), which include repetitive strain and repetitive motion injuries and cumulative trauma disorders, are one of the leading causing of lost work time in many jurisdictions. These injuries occur when bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and other soft …

This video, courtesy of the Ministry of Transportation in Ontario, carries an important warning for winter driving conditions. Transcript for the video made available in the post.

The oil and gas industry is one of the more hazardous sectors in Canada. For example, in 2010, there were 16 fatalities in the upstream oil and gas industry in Alberta alone and 83 serious injuries in the industry in BC that year. So it’s …

On Dec. 16. 2011, the Chief Prevention Officer (CPO) George Gritziotis and the Minister of Labour (MOL) announced the next steps in Ontario’s reform process. Here are the highlights.
Reprisals
The MOL released a new draft OHS regulation that would prescribe the functions of the Office of …

Workers have the right to: Know about workplace hazards and what to do about them. Participate in solving workplace health and safety problems. Refuse work they believe is unsafe. Know that employers cannot take action against workers for following the law and raising health …