Union concerned over potential violence in field work
Ontario environmental officers don’t face unreasonable risks to their health and safety if they follow policies that are in place to protect them, according to an arbitrator.
The Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks employs senior environmental officers (SEOs) to enforce environmental legislation and regulations. Because SEO orders for compliance can lead to heavy fines or jail time, the SEOs’ union was concerned about potential violence.
This concern was fueled by five particular threatening incidents.
In February 2012, a female SEO in Sudbury investigated a rural property responsible for nutrient contamination of a lake. Three men and a woman encircled her, cutting her off from her vehicle. After some discussion, she managed to get back to her vehicle.
In April 2012 a male SEO in the York-Durham region was tasked with serving two people with a cost-recovery order. When the SEO and his partner arrived, one of the individuals yelled at them to leave. The second individual came to the door, shouted at them and pushed the SEO off the porch. As they tried to leave, the first individual struck the vehicle.
In July 2012 a female SEO in London investigated complaints that a farmer had a pile of compost containing garbage. While she was investigating, two men pulled up in a car and started yelling at her that she was trespassing. One man — who was the property owner — grabbed her by the wrist and bent her thumb. She tried to get to her vehicle, but the man grabbed her ponytail and pulled her down. The man was charged with assault.
In May 2014 two male SEOs were assigned to inspect a Hamilton wrecking yard whose owner had a history of being uncooperative. The owner began yelling and using profanity while punching his palm two inches from one SEO’s face. When they told him of the inspection, the owner yelled that they should leave. He followed them to their vehicle, and they called police.
In June 2014, a male SEO visited a property in Welland, Ont. that was linked to a failure to comply with environmental regulations. While he was observing, four men drove up in a pickup truck — one carrying a hunting rifle. They said they wanted to see why he was parked there as there had been illegal activity in the area. When the SEO identified himself, they drove off.
The union filed a group grievance claiming the ministry failed to provide reasonable safety precautions for SEOs performing field work, contravening the collective agreement and the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
The arbitrator noted that SEOs had the option of disengaging or postponing an assignment if they were concerned about their personal safety. Ministry policy allowed them to research a situation and arrange additional precautions, and there was no evidence of any SEO being disciplined for delaying or refusing an assignment.
The arbitrator also pointed out that ministry policy stated that “if you are told to leave, leave.” In the incidents presented by the union, the SEOs didn’t follow that rule and that led to an escalation.
The arbitrator found that the five incidents mostly involved verbal abuse, which was on the lower end of risk. Of the two that involved physical assault, the pushing off the porch was relatively minor, and the London incident didn’t escalate to physical assault until the SEO refused to disengage.
The arbitrator found that the ministry’s safety precautions met the requirements of the collective agreement and the OHSA.
“The prospect of encountering unknown risk and inability to disengage, the primary arguments of the union, did not expose SEOs to unreasonable risk, if they had followed employer policy and directives and taken advantage of the safety precautions made available to them,” said the arbitrator in dismissing the grievance.
Reference: OPSEU and Ontario (Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks) (Tomlinson). Nimal Dissanayake — arbitrator. Kevin Dorgan, Susan Munn for the employer. Tim Hannigan for the employee. March 2, 2020. 2020 CarswellOnt 3381.
