The Federal Court has decided that federally-regulated employers are not required to conduct inspections of places not under their control where their employees work. The decision will be a relief to federal employers whose employees regularly work away from the employer's office.
The court rejected letter carriers' claim that Canada Post was required to ensure that inspections were conducted of public areas including the letter carriers' routes.
The provision in issue was section section 125(1)(z.12) of the Canada Labour Code which provides:
125. (1) Without restricting the generality of section 124, every employer shall, in respect of every work place controlled by the employer and, in respect of every work activity carried out by an employee in a work place that is not controlled by the employer, to the extent that the employer controls the activity,
. . .
(z.12) ensure that the work place committee or the health and safety representative inspects each month all or part of the work place, so that every part of the work place is inspected at least once each year;
The Court decided that that provision required inspections of only workplaces actually controlled by the employer – not workplaces, such as letter routes, that are not under the employer's control. The Court upheld a federal Appeals Officer's decision stating that employers cannot be required to inspect workplaces over which they have no control and thus no opportunity to fix hazards identified in the inspection.
The Court concluded:
"The Appeals Officer recognized that Parliament intended to give the broadest possible protection to employees including to those performing work in a place which the employer may not control. In my view the Appeals Officer's interpretation of subsection 125(1) and paragraph 125(1)(z.12) demonstrates sensitivity to preserving the broad nature of the employer's obligations to ensure the health and safety of its employees without placing obligations upon the employer that the latter would be unable to fulfill."
Canadian Union of Postal Workers v. Canada Post Corporation, 2016 FC 252 (CanLII)
For more information, visit our Occupational Health & Safety Law blog at www.occupationalhealthandsafetylaw.com
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