Charge employers in workplace deaths: Yukon labour head

Criminal charges should be laid against employers that are implicated in workplace fatalities, says the president of the Yukon Federation of Labour.

Alex Furlong said the Yukon government needs to start considering criminal charges when employers are reckless with the lives of their employees.

"It's high time we take a really strong view of how we are looking at workplace fatalities in this territory," Furlong told CBC News on Monday.

"For our size of a territory and the number of fatalities we have, this has got to stop."

Furlong made his comments in advance of a National Day of Mourning, set for Wednesday, to remember those who have been killed or injured in the workplace.

The remarks also come in the wake of the recent death of William Fisher, 25, at Yukon Zinc Corp.'s Wolverine mine site in southeastern Yukon.

Some operations resumed

Fisher and two other workers with Procon Mining and Tunnelling Ltd., a contractor, were working in an underground tunnel early Sunday morning when it caved in on them. The other two workers survived.

Yukon occupational health and safety investigators are currently investigating the incident, as are the Yukon coroner's office and members of the RCMP.

Construction and exploration at the Wolverine site were halted following Fisher's death. On Tuesday, Yukon Zinc announced that above-ground operations would resume, but underground work would remain suspended until the investigation is finished.

Company officials have said the part of the underground tunnel where Fisher was killed had been stabilized, so it should not have caved in.

Rule out negligence first: Furlong

Furlong said he is not claiming there was negligence in Fisher's death, but he said RCMP should rule out criminal negligence in workplace fatalities right away.

Currently, RCMP secure the scene of a workplace fatality, do an initial investigation, then hand over the file to occupational health and safety (OH&S) inspectors, Furlong said.

"What we're saying is that at the first instance, it should be cleared from a criminal negligence point of view before it even gets to the OH&S inspectors," he said.

The incident should also be reviewed by the Crown prosecutor's office, "with the lens from a criminal negligence point of view," Furlong added.

Furlong also called for the creation of a unit of police officers and prosecutors that deal specially with workplace deaths, as he said it is a unique area of law and specialized training is required.