Five-Day Suspension for Not Wearing Safety Glasses Is Appropriate

A charge hand saw a worker using the trim table without wearing safety glasses as required by company policy. He asked the worker multiple times to put on safety glasses and the worker refused. Given that the worker had a previous three-day suspension for a similar offence, the company suspended him for five days, which the union challenged. An arbitrator found that the worker wasn’t wearing safety glasses and was told more than once to wear them. The worker had a prior suspension for the same safety infraction. And such infractions must be taken seriously. Thus, the arbitrator concluded that the five-day suspension was warranted and not excessive [Terminal Forest Products Ltd v. United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing Energy Allied Industrial and Services Workers International Union, Local 1-1937, [2014] CanLII 26397 (BC LA), May 26, 2014].