OHS Protections Cover All Workers – Not Just the Full-Timers

A high school student got a part-time job at an Alberta lumber mill. He was assigned to a crew that worked the late shift on Friday nights, cleaning up wood chips, sawdust and other debris. While on duty, the student fell through an open hatch to the basement floor, breaking his leg and suffering other injuries. The lumber mill was convicted of two safety violations: failing to provide the worker with fall protection equipment and failure to put a barrier around the hatch. The court ruled that the mill didn’t really consider part-time workers to be “employees” and thus didn’t exercise due diligence as to their safety training and supervision [R. v. Blue Ridge Lumber Inc.].