Needless Deaths and Frustration with the WSIB

"Wayne Samuelson, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, spoke of his frustration with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board's flawed "experience rating system," which has resulted in millions of dollars in rebates going to companies, even after they were fined for safety violations that led to death or serious injuries. Samuelson said he's been telling the board about the problems for years."

Needless deaths and injuries continue to take place on job

Their names were remembered yesterday: Lorne Weber who died at a Cambridge job site in 2005; Mike Hannon, who died at Budd Automotive in 2003; Donald Klassen, a City of Waterloo inspector who was killed at a job site in 1990; Micky Hamilton, killed on the job in 1984; Manuel Leal, killed on the job in 1979.

They were just a few of the local people remembered during a ceremony for workers killed or injured on the job, held yesterday in front of Waterloo City Hall.

The day of mourning event, started 24 years ago by the Canadian Labour Congress, has raised awareness, but the needless deaths and injuries continue to happen, said Rick Moffitt, president of the Waterloo Regional Labour Council. "Last year, in Ontario, pallbearers carried 378 workers to their graves," he said.

Furthermore, an estimated 6,000 workers die every year from occupational diseases "that employers and governments still too often refuse to accept as diseases that have their root in the workplace," Moffitt said.

"Every single workplace injury or death is preventable," he added.

Moffitt said there was a victory a few years ago when legislation was passed making company owners criminally responsible if they fail to protect the health and safety of workers. But implementation of the law has been weak, he said.

He cited a case,where a company deliberately disabled a safety device, resulting in a worker's death. The company was fined $110,000. "They knowingly did this, and they pleaded guilty, and yet the fine was a lousy $110,000," Moffitt said.

Wayne Samuelson, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, spoke of his frustration with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board's flawed "experience rating system," which has resulted in millions of dollars in rebates going to companies, even after they were fined for safety violations that led to death or serious injuries.

Samuelson said he's been telling the board about the problems for years.

The system is also flawed because "if you don't report an accident, you are off their radar," he said.

Samuelson said he recently was told about a situation where an injured worker was lying on the ground after a fall while the supervisor and owner of the work site were trying to make a deal with him to not report it.

"This is going on across the province," Samuelson said.

He said there needs to be a system that scrutinizes job sites, to see what employers are actually doing to prevent injuries and deaths.

[email protected]