When the smartphone is the whistleblower

It was a story that made headlines beyond Canada despite taking place in Ontario’s northwest.

A train crew was surrounded by a wall of fire that looked set to engulf their cab. Two individuals driving the CN train, apparently waiting for another train to pass before they could proceed, sounded both calm and frantic as the flames leapt up around them.

“This could potentially overtake us here, this has gotten a little scary,” says one. “Holy sh--.”

In the video, a crew member can be heard communicating urgently over radio with a dispatcher, asking them to speed up the train's departure.

“Y’all need to hurry up here, like, seriously,” he says. “We’re encased in flames now.”

Luckily, the other train they’re waiting for finally emerges from the wall of flames and sweeps by before the video ends, allowing the crew to move forward and escape the inferno.

Since it was filmed and posted on social media on July 13, the video has raised many alarmed questions about how the workers ended up in such a dire situation. The union representing the workers is demanding answers.

“This incident should never have happened. CN should never have sent a train down those lines. The company knows exactly how bad the situation is in that region. That fire has been raging for five weeks,” said Paul Boucher, president of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference.

The new whistleblower?

There was a time when this kind of incident would have never been revealed or at least the severity of the situation would not have been as easily conveyed as it was with the dramatic video.

Which is why the smartphone has become a new kind of whistleblower. Every employee now carries a device capable of documenting workplace conditions in real time.

Back in 2024, for example, a U.S. worker fired by two human resources professionals over Zoom recorded and posted the incident on TikTok. Brittany Pietsch was told that she was being let go because she was not meeting expectations and nearly two million people ended up watching the video.

In the CN crew situation, it’s possible the workers didn’t want to expose any deficiencies on their employer’s part and just wanted to share their frightening experience.

And it’s unclear if they will face discipline for doing so. In a federally regulated industry with strict safety protocols, filming while on duty may well violate company policy — but punishing workers for documenting their own endangerment would raise serious questions about CN's priorities.

What is clear is that the smartphone, or even smart glasses, can capture mistakes big or small at work.

And some employees will have more of an agenda, in wanting to shine a spotlight on their employer’s misbehaviour through videos that go viral. Workers increasingly and successfully use social media to document hazards, warn colleagues, pressure employers or influence regulators.

Nowhere to hide

If employers want to combat this unwanted spotlight, their best bet is to step up and acknowledge the risks, do their due diligence, follow proper procedure and put employee safety first, over profits and revenues.

CN quickly responded to the situation, saying the crew was safe and employees in the area were relocated, while operations in the area were temporarily suspended as a precaution.

For HR, it’s a reminder of the power of frontline employees in exposing misdeeds. Even cellphone bans can be ignored if workers feel the need to express concerns.

The incident also raises employment law concerns. Under the Canada Labour Code (which covers federally regulated industries like rail), workers have a statutory right to refuse dangerous work. Did these workers consider that option, before they were surrounded in flames, or did they trust their employer would not place them in danger?

Did the situation escalate too quickly for them to act? That gap between the legal right on paper and the reality a fast-changing scenario is a challenging one that conscientious employers must address.

Canadian workplaces are required to provide a safe workplace. And HR professionals want employees to be safe. They want to build the policies, do the training and enforce the rules so people aren't injured or killed. 

But sometimes it's leadership that's the weak link, or processes and procedures, or bad choices, and these will inevitably be exposed — whether through an unfortunate accident or a video that goes viral.

Whatever investigation follows, whatever policy gets updated, their employer owes them an honest answer for why it did. And appropriate steps must be taken to avoid another dangerous situation that may not end as well.