July 4, 2008

High-school construction teacher fined after dispute with Ministry of Labour inspector

ELAINE DELLA-MATTIA

correspondent

Sault Ste. Marie

A high school construction co-op teacher has been fined after pleading guilty to an occupational health and safety charge.

Darren McClelland, the lead teacher at a Sault Ste. Marie high school, and former Ministry of Transportation construction inspector, pleaded guilty last Thursday to hindering, obstructing and interfering with a Ministry of Labour investigator. He was fined $1,000 plus costs.

Court heard that a MOL investigator was inspecting a housing project in Sault Ste. Marie on April 17, 2007 when he found six of the eight students on a roof, more than three metres high, were not attached to safety harnesses. McClelland was their onsite teacher-supervisor, and received a warning for the offence.

The students, part of a high school construction co-op program, were working alongside journey tradespeople on the housing project while learning about the construction industry.

The program, which has been in place throughout the Algoma District School Board for about a decade as a partnership between the board and SalDan Developments, integrates students with tradespeople on various job sites.

The same investigator returned to the site for another inspection on June 6, 2007 and saw 10 students on the roof, none of them of them connected to a fall- arrest system.

The students were unloading shingles from a boom truck and loading them on the roof, said defence lawyer Don Orazietti, noting that the instructor believed the fall-arrest system would be more of a hindrance than a safety measure in the process.

“He understands that his view isn’t what the legislation requires,” Orazietti told the court.

The students were ordered off the roof and the teacher’s attempt to explain the situation to the investigator to “give him a break” escalated on the job site.

MOL lawyer Wes Wilson said McClelland began yelling, swearing and shoving the inspector and threw his hard hat to the ground.

Wilson noted that McClelland, in his position of responsibility with the students “ought not be of one breaking government regulations” for students learning about the construction industry.

McClelland was described to the court as a caring teacher who has extensive knowledge about the construction industry and health and safety issues.

Justice of the Peace Sharon Roberson, who accepted the joint submission of the Crown and defence, noted “the bigger issue is the health and safety of young people under your tutelage.”

She noted that young workers often do whatever their employer asks without understanding some of the safety risks involved.

“I’m happy we’re not here dealing with a death or injury of a student,” she said.

Algoma District School Board Director of Education Mario Turco said that the program, which is open to all students across the board, has been a very successful partnership between the board and SalDan Developments and one that is under review for expansion.

The Sault Ste. Marie Construction Association refused comment.

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