Two Alberta workers were off-loading natural gas condensate into a free-standing storage tank at a well. The running engine of a truck parked dangerously nearby sucked in condensate vapours from the tank. Heat from the engine caused the vapours to explode. Both workers were badly burned. The oilfield company was convicted of failing to properly train the workers. The court criticized the company’s safety training program for failing to properly train workers who already had training from other companies and experience in the industry. The company’s “serious over-reliance on past experience” led to “a tendency to be perfunctory” with respect to both in-office and field service training, noted the court [R. v. Dial Oilfield Services].
THE PROBLEM
Under the OHS laws, employers must train workers and give them the information and training they need to perform their jobs properly and safely. If a worker was already trained at another company, it might be tempting to skip the additional training and put the worker directly to work with just some refresher training at most. But, as the Dial case shows, employers must train all their workers to do their jobs safely—not only new and young workers but also veteran workers who already have plenty of experience.
THE EXPLANATION
It would be all too easy to assume that any experienced workers we hire already know how to do their job and don’t need any training other than perhaps a brief refresher from us. The company in Dial made precisely the same assumption. One of the injured workers in the Dial case did have extensive oilfield experience. In fact, the court noted that it was evident that when the company hired this worker, “his background was viewed as a significant plus by Dial.” He had previous training in WHMIS, TDGA requirements and hydrogen sulphide awareness. He also had other professional driving qualifications and had gone through approximately 50 oil company orientations. So instead of training the worker in general workplace safety and the company’s particular rules and procedures, Dial handed him a safety manual and told him to review it on his own.
But, as the court explained, the company’s assessment of the worker’s training and experience “carried with it a hidden danger, namely that it would be easy for a new employer in such a situation to make assumptions about the safety experience and more importantly, the safety attitudes of this new employee.” And unfortunately, its assumption that “the new man knew what he was doing” proved wrong. The court concluded that the worker was overconfident in his knowledge and abilities and lazy in his work habits. As a result, it found the company liable for failing to properly train him.
The lesson of the Dial case is that the previous experience and training that workers bring to the table when they accept a job with our company doesn’t eliminate our duty to train them before they start work for us. The duty to train extends to all workers, even those who have prior training and experience. And when you really think about it, the duty to train workers who are experienced and have already been trained by other companies makes a lot of sense. After all, we have no way of knowing the quality or thoroughness of the training the worker got from his previous employer. Plus, even if the worker’s prior training from another company was up to our standards, it didn’t teach him about our company’s rules and procedures. And just because a worker is experienced doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s safety-conscious.
THE SOLUTION
You must be familiar with the company’s training program and actively take measures to verify that:
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