Workplace Health and Safety Crimes, 4th Edition

 It has been 15 years since Bill C-45 was passed into law.

Bill C-45 was a Criminal Code amendment that created the indictable offence of occupational health and safety (OHS) negligence. Norm Keith, a partner in a leading Canadian national law firm and a renowned, international expert on OHS issues, wrote the first in-depth analysis of Bill C-45, and its implications for workplace health and safety practices, in the book's 2004 second edition, then updated in the book’s 2014 third edition. In this fourth edition, the author reviews 15 years of all the cases that have been prosecuted under this legislation.

Book Features

• Provides a background to the Westray Bill, including a review of the facts of the Westray mine disaster, public inquiry, and the legal political and legislative responses and recommendations from that public inquiry
• Covers "lessons learned" from the Metron Construction disaster and prosecutions under the Criminal Code and Occupational Health & Safety Act
• Provides a section-by-section review of Bill C-45, which creates a legal duty to take "reasonable steps" to prevent workplace injury and death
• Gives a comprehensive overview on OHS law in Canada, and how it is enforced
• Describes how OHS offences are prosecuted under Bill C-45
• Outlines ways in which employers can avoid workplace accidents
• Dedicated chapter to international trends in workplace health and safety crimes

What’s New in This Edition

•  A new chapter on manslaughter in the workplace - A completely new chapter is introduced dealing with the crime of manslaughter in the workplace.  The Fournier case resulted in the conviction of an individual for manslaughter  arising from a workplace fatality. While one case  cannot be reasonably described as a trend, the use of this crime in the context of a workplace fatality, is an important development in the law.
• Statutory and case law developments in the law of workplace health and safety crimes in the last five years , including R. v. Kazenelson [2015] O.J. No. 3370, R. v. Kazenelson [2018] O.J. No. 452, R. v. Detour Gold Corp. [2017] O.J. No. 5290
• New/ Additional Appendices which include the above mentioned cases for ease of reference

 Who Should Read This Book

• Employment and OHS lawyers – Helps lawyers advise their clients on the latest developments in OHS law
• In-house counsel – Provides guidance to their employers on strategies to comply with their OHS duties, and to avoid liability under the Criminal Code
• Unions and Union representatives – To understand their members rights under OH&S legislation
• Human Resources managers & OHS managers and officers – Enables HR managers and OHS managers and officers formulate a legally-compliant and robust OHS program in the workplace
• Environment, Health & Safety professionals, including Chief Safety officers, Chief Risk/Compliance officers, EHS directors and JHSC committees – To ensure companies comply with OH&S legal duties