lEgal rEport/lAbouR & eMployMenT
Blue Mountain reduces
reporting burden
Ontario appeal court requires 'reasonable nexus' between hazard and its
effect on workers before companies must contact Labour ministry.
H
ockey, religion, and
Canadian Tire were
among the national
institutions evoked in
a recent appeal decision
that considered the broad and potentially "absurd" impact of an occupational safety ruling. The Ontario Divisional
Court's decision in Blue Mountain
Resorts Ltd. v. Ontario (Labour) had suggested any death or critical injury, anywhere, whatever the cause, would have
to be reported as a workplace injury.
38
M ay
2013
www.CANADIAN
The decision was overturned
in February by the Ontario Court of
Appeal, which issued a revised interpretation of the Occupational Health and
Safety Act that reduces the reporting
burden on employers.
The case was sparked when a guest
at Blue Mountain — a ski and mountain
biking resort near Collingwood, Ont. —
was found drowned in an unattended
swimming pool in December 2007. The
resort did not report the death to the
Ministry of Labour on the basis the
L a w ye r m a g . c o m
pool was not a workplace as defined in
s. 51(1) of the Occupational Health and
Safety Act. Reporting the incident would
have involved notifying an inspector,
producing a written report, and potentially being told not to disturb the scene
pending an investigation. A ministry
inspector said the resort should have
reported the drowning; this was upheld
by the Ontario Labour Relations Board
and the Divisional Court.
The Divisional Court said it was reasonable to define the swimming pool as
justin renteria
by charlotte Santry
