Central to bringing due diligence to the workplace is the creation of written policies, practices, and procedures to deal with any hazardous activity in the workplace. Management cannot be everywhere. Central to employers meeting their obligation to employees is the provision of the information in the workplace, which allows employees to conduct their activities in a safe way.
In order to meet this aspect of the due diligence obligation, employers must review the activities carried on in their workplace and identify those which are hazardous. Procedures for the safe performance of hazardous activities must be developed. Those procedures must be specific.
The degree of detail in the procedures will vary the risk and the complexity of the task involved. High risk, complex tasks will require very detailed procedures. Low risk, simple tasks will require much less detailed procedures. For example, the procedures necessary to instruct employees on the proper method for entering confined spaces where hazardous gases may be present will be much more detailed than the procedures for the use of simple hand tools.
Procedures, policies, and practices must be kept up-to-date. As new equipment is introduced in the workplace, or new processes added, changes must be made and communicated to employees.
An unreported decision of an Ontario court involving a company called Royal Homes illustrates this element of the concept of due diligence. In that case, a truck driver of the company was delivering a prefabricated home which had been loaded onto a flatbed trailer and was attached with steel cables. In the course of the delivery, the load shifted. The driver attempted to adjust the cables and the load slid off. The driver was fatally injured. The court, in finding the company guilty, indicated that it was not enough for the company to have hired an experienced, trained driver. Rather, the court said that in order to satisfy the requirement of due diligence, the following was required:
- a procedure for routine inspection of the load before it left the company premises;
- a policy regarding the handling of mechanical emergencies on route;
- a policy instructing employees that they were not to place themselves under loads; and
- a practice of ongoing reinforcement of these policies and procedures.
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