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Workers' Compensation Board investigation shows serious safety violations led to the death of three farmworkers
February 8, 2008
Vancouver-Today's report from the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) shows that serious safety violations led to the unnecessary death of three farmworkers last March, said B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair.
According to the WCB Report, a lack of seatbelts, overloading the van, and an untrained, improperly licensed driver, were all factors contributing to the crash. However, Sinclair observed that the poor safety conditions facing farmworkers has been an open secret for far too long.
"We know farmworkers face poor working conditions. They are often recent immigrants with language challenges and are unaware of their rights. It's sad that it took yet another tragic death to prompt the provincial government into taking some action," said Sinclair. "Too often, that once public attention fades, so does the government attention to the problem."
While the WCB Report answers some questions, there is still information from other provincial agencies that is yet to be made public. "It's quite clear this vehicle shouldn't have been on the road, yet somehow it passed a commercial vehicle inspection; how, no one knows," Sinclair said. "It's imperative that Kevin Falcon and the Ministry of Transportation also publicly release any findings from their review of the commercial vehicle inspection process."
Sinclair noted this issue again raises serious concern about the responsibility of contractors in implementing health and safety. "In the forest and construction sectors we've already witnessed serious cases leading to death, when contractors and subcontractors are left solely responsible for workers' health and safety. The situation with contractors providing temporary labour is even worse."
As the WCB investigation noted, in this case, Rainbow Nurseries is not responsible for providing health and safety training for any temporary workers entering their worksite, nor do they appear obliged to ensure the contractor has taken any of these steps. "This hands-off approach in other sectors has proven deadly, and it's critical that the WCB review this situation," Sinclair said.
Following the March 7, 2007 crash that killed three female farmworkers, the B.C. Federation of Labour submitted 29 recommendations to the provincial government. The Federation is conducting an ongoing review of the government's progress on implementing these recommendations.
Families of the victims are still awaiting a coroner's inquest into the death of these women, as well as a decision from Crown Counsel on whether or not they will proceed with criminal charges.
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For more information contact: Jessie Uppal 604-430-1421 or 604-220-0739.
