Safety Reporter
Canadian
www.safety-reporter.com
February 2019
New hire raises safety
complaints, gets fired,
wins more than $30,000
Worker fired after raising health and safety issues
at work; Only with company for 3 months
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN ONTARIO company must pay a former short-term employee
more than $30,000 in damages for firing him because of health and
safety issues he raised less than three months into his employment.
David Knapp, 38, was hired as a cabinet maker on Feb. 12, 2018,
by Greenbank Custom Woodworking, a producer of cabinetry and
other woodworked products in Port Perry, Ont. In addition to cabi-
net making, his job duties also included some welding and driving.
Company cleared of liability in death
of Saskatchewan oil and gas worker
Worker overwhelmed by powerful release of gas and liquid
from pipeline; Unlikely extra precautions would have changed outcome
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
A TRAGIC INCIDENT in which
a Saskatchewan worker was
quickly overwhelmed and killed
by poisonous gas wasn't reason-
ably foreseeable and couldn't
have been prevented by the em-
ployer, the Saskatchewan Pro-
vincial Court has ruled.
Nalco Champion is a global
company that provides mid-
stream analysis for the oil and
gas industry with a Canadian
headquarters in Rocky View,
Alta. It provides services to
about 50 oilfield companies in
Saskatchewan and Manitoba
that includes analysis of samples
of "produced water" — crude oil
SHIPPING COMPANY WORKERS
UNLOAD ON EACH OTHER
Worker fired after physical altercation
that followed taunts by co-worker pg. 5
WORKERS' COMPENSATION
BENEFITS FOR MISSED
RETURN-TO-WORK PERIOD
Benefits ended even though worker
didn't return as expected; Workplace
accident aggravated condition pg. 6
INSIDE
NEWS BRIEF
Accident > pg. 4
Credit:
Shutterstock/g_tech
Worker fired > pg. 2
PM
#40065782
APPEAL OVER 'BURN PITS'
ILLNESSES REJECTED
WASHINGTON (Reuters) — The U.S.
Supreme Court has rejected a bid
by U.S. troops sickened by smoke
from open-air pits used to burn
waste in Iraq and Afghanistan to
revive a lawsuit against defense
contractors KBR and Halliburton.
The lawsuit claims former sol-
diers developed various cancers,
neurological damage and other
illnesses, often fatal, because of
negligent operation of the pits.
The case centered on the li-
ability of KBR and Halliburton over
waste disposal services they pro-
vided the U.S. military in Afghani-
stan starting in 2001 and Iraq
starting in 2003. KBR was part of
Halliburton until 2007.
The Richmond, Virginia-based
4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled that the consolidated law-
suits amounted to a "political ques-
tion" that Congress and the presi-
dent should resolve, not the courts.
The plaintiffs said they were
harmed because the companies
did not follow correct safety proce-
dures and placed the pits too close
to occupied areas. The contractor
used the pits to dispose of plas-
tics, tires, batteries, medical waste
and other material that released
airborne toxins when burned.
NEW WORKPLACE STRESS
ENTITLEMENTS MAY NOT BE SO
STRESSFUL FOR EMPLOYERS
New Ontario legislation grants workers'
compensation benefits for mental health
injuries, but the bar is high pg. 3