Introduction

Employers have a duty, under Occupational Health and Safety legislation, to provide information, training and supervision to workers to protect their health and safety. An Ontario Court recently held that an employer does not have a duty to train an employee on a function that falls outside his or her job description.

The facts

In this case, the employee worked as an Emergency Medical Services manager at the West Parry Sound Health Centre. The manager asked a clerk to file a requisition for maintenance to repair a malfunctioning air conditioning and heating unit. When the manager was advised the maintenance department may not be available to fix the unit until the following day, he decided he would attempt to fix the problem himself. He asked for the assistance of one of his co-workers, however, that co-worker was then called away. Without speaking to anyone else, the manager removed a ladder from the wall of an ambulance and climbed the ladder to check the heating and air conditioning unit. When the manager reached the top of the ladder, it gave way and he fell approximately 15-20 feet to the ground, landing on his back and suffering serious injuries.

The Ministry of Labour laid charges against the employer pursuant to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, alleging a failure to properly train the manager on ladder use.

The decision

The court decided that the manager acted without the employer's direction or approval and that the accident was not foreseeable. It was found that in these circumstances, the employer did not have a duty to provide training to the manager on such use of a ladder. The court's rationale was that at the moment of the accident, the manager was not doing work required by his employer or work related to his job. Importantly, the manager was aware of the proper procedure to have a maintenance worker check the air conditioning and heating unit, yet decided to climb the ladder in order to check it himself.

To illustrate its point, the court asked the following rhetorical questions:

  • "Would it be reasonable and necessary to provide information, instruction and supervision to a maintenance worker on the proper use of a hypodermic syringe?" and
  • "If a nurse at the West Parry Sound Health Centre hurt her hand while using a hammer and nail to hang a picture, would that be foreseeable and, therefore, necessitate training all nurses in how to use a hammer and nail?"

The court stated that reasonable care and due diligence does not mean "super human" efforts and that the Act and regulations do not "mandate or seek to achieve the impossible entirely risk-free work environment".

What this means for you

This decision confirms that, as an employer, your duty to provide information, instruction and supervision is not unlimited. Employers who provide proper training to employees, relating to their specific job requirements, are not expected to offer training in other skills or in duties and hazards unrelated to their specific roles. Therefore, if an employee is acting outside his or her job description, and is injured in an accident that was not foreseeable, it is unlikely you, as the employer, would be convicted under the applicable occupational health and safety legislation.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.