Workplace Violence Legislation Impacts Employer Duties

Corporations and their risk management departments face new responsibilities with the passage of federal Bill C-45, which seeks to reduce workplace violence and accidents, attendees to an AIG seminar were recently told.

The new law establishes criminal liability for corporations and the individuals running them if they fail to take steps to prevent workplace violence and accidents, notes Dr. Paul Viollis of Risk Control Strategies. Fines starting at $10,000 with no limit, as well as prison sentences ranging as long as life terms in the case of worker fatality are also provided for.

Alarmingly, he notes, 14% of all homicides in Canada that took place between 1995-2000 occurred in the workplace. And, one-in-six violent incidents takes place in the workplace, with overall economic costs estimated conservatively at $7.6 billion. As a result, risk managers need to address reducing and mitigation such risk by responding to incidents of aggression in the workplace, he explains. “Please, don’t think this can’t happen to you,” he warns.