Bruske: Mandatory Training and Stronger Enforcement Needed to Uphold the Westray Law

Thirty-four years ago today, 26 miners in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, lost their lives in a horrific underground explosion at the Westray Mine.

The Westray Disaster – like all workplace fatalities – was preventable.

More than three decades later, much remains the same. Far too many negligent employers are not held accountable for when workers are killed or seriously injured on the job.

In 2004, the Westray amendments were passed into law, establishing criminal liability for organizations – including corporations – for negligence of their fundamental duty to ensure the health and safety of workers.

 “In 2024 – the last year for which there is updated data – there were 1042 accepted fatality claims made to workers’ compensation boards, but over 20 years, there have been only 29 Westray charges. The enforcement of the Westray Law is so weak, it’s inexcusable,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Police, prosecutors, and regulators need training in the Westray Law so it is applied, and accountability reaches the senior leadership whose decisions or lack of decisions can put workers and the public at risk, so the law is the deterrent it is intended to be.”

The Canadian Labour Congress is calling for a coordinated, whole-of-government approach, involving federal, provincial, and territorial governments to ensure:

• Mandatory training for police and health and safety regulators on the proper application of the Westray amendments;
• The implementation of mandatory procedures and a national protocol based in sociotechnical science in every jurisdiction for police, Crown prosecutors, and health and safety regulators in investigating how senior executive decisions, organizational systems, and workplace conditions contribute to foreseeable and preventable workplace deaths and injuries.

“Having over 1000 workers a year die on the job is not normal – it’s a disgrace,” concludes Bruske. “Negligent employers will not change their behaviour until the Westray Law is fully enforced which requires mandatory training and protocols to make this happen. Workers, their families, and their communities deserve no less.”