Labour Board Criticizes Roofing Company Owner’s Attitude Toward Safety

An OHS inspector issued a stop work order to a roofing company after seeing workers on the roof of a commercial building without fall protection. He also observed other safety violations, including a ladder that wasn’t properly secured and the absence of a supervisor. The next day, he returned and saw that work was being done on the roof despite the order. The company was issued administrative penalties totalling $3,000 and appealed, arguing that the inspector was over zealous and unfairly targeted it. The Labour Board disagreed, noting the company owner appeared ‘nostalgic for some imagined good old days when sure-footed roofers safely clambered up and down from roofs with little or no equipment.’ In upholding the penalties, the Board added that the owner’s attitude toward safety was ‘extremely troubling. He is out of touch with the reality that workplace safety is a paramount concern in Nova Scotia, and that the law and the people who enforce it are trying to save lives’ [Reteff (Re), 2015 NSLB 187 (CanLII), Oct. 28, 2015].