Corporate directors can be charged by the Ontario Ministry of Labour and fined under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Threatening and swearing at a Ministry of Labour inspector certainly increases the odds of charges being laid.
A Ministry of Labour inspector visited a construction project where Starland Contracting Ltd. had been hired to build a self-service car wash. The inspector saw a worker on the roof without fall protection or a hard hat.
A few months later, the inspector made a follow-up visit. The company’s director was on site and was acting as supervisor. According to the Ministry of Labour press release, the inspector went to speak with the director, who uttered profanities at the inspector, told the inspector to leave the project, and made threatening gestures and comments towards the inspector. The director refused to show identification when asked.
The next day, another Ministry of Labour inspector went to the site. Starland was unable to show a Notice of Project Form or a Form 1000, which lists all employers and subcontractors on site. That inspector issued an order for those documents, but they were not provided by the deadline in the order.
Starland and the director were charged by the Ministry of Labour under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. After an ex-parte trial (meaning that the company and the director did not attend at the trial), the company was convicted of three offences under the OHSA and fined $29,500.00, and the director was convicted of two offences (hindering, obstructing, molesting and interfering with an inspector; and refusing to provide information requested by an inspector) and fined $8,500.00.
The Ministry of Labour’s press release may be found here.
