‘We need more folks who are working in that department to extend their reach further across the province’
Occupational health and safety advocates in Newfoundland and Labrador warn that flat funding and slow prosecutions are undermining deterrence, even as new national data underscore the scale of work-related harm across Canada.
CBC News reporting shows the province continues to struggle with timely investigations and meaningful penalties.
Provincial enforcement under strain
At a National Day of Mourning ceremony in St. John’s, families of workers killed or severely injured on the job spoke alongside labour leaders and safety experts. CBC News reported the event was standing-room only, with stories ranging from fatal road incidents to life-altering falls and confined-space incidents.
Angela Ryan told the crowd her husband Darren suffered life-changing injuries in 2019 while doing confined-space gas testing on the Terra Nova FPSO, operated by Suncor Energy, according to the report.
“It's very ironic that my husband sustained a life-altering injury trying to protect workers,” Ryan said, according to the report. “My question is who was protecting him?” She said “the company got away with almost killing my husband,” calling the fine “a slap on the wrist” that was less than a typical annual salary on the vessel.
Gaps in use of Westray Law and audit findings
Labour leaders say the case reflects a broader enforcement gap. No criminal charges have ever been laid in Newfoundland and Labrador under the Westray Law, which was intended to make criminal prosecutions easier when negligence leads to death. “When criminal negligence leads to death ... people need to go to jail,” said Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour president Jessica McCormick, according to the CBC report.
A 2022 internal audit obtained by CBC found that at least one-quarter of investigations reviewed were not completed before the two-year limitation period, “thereby precluding the option for prosecution.” Staffing and training gaps were among the significant findings. Also, the province often laid charges near the end of that two-year window, raising concerns about investigative quality and deterrent effect, according to CBC.
McCormick has argued that without more investigators and inspectors, those systemic problems will persist. “We need more folks who are working in that department to extend their reach further across the province, to make sure, not just in urban centres like St. John's, but right across Newfoundland and Labrador, particularly in rural areas,” she told CBC News.
Despite those issues, the latest provincial budget included no new funding for OH&S, and government documents show inspector salary budgets have been underspent in recent years, according to the report. Last year, Newfoundland and Labrador recorded 17 workplace-related fatalities, 14 from occupational disease and three from traumatic incidents.
