Case Study
Deeply Conflicted
A man who lost his leg in a workplace accident complained to the Ombudsman that the Ministry of Labour’s investigation was flawed because the inspector who conducted it had previously worked for the company where the incident occurred. An Ombudsman investigator determined the Ministry’s investigator had in fact worked for the company in question for 24 years – in fact, he had only left the company 18 months before, and this investigation was his first for the Ministry.
The Ombudsman investigator’s review also revealed a number of instances where Ministry policies and procedures appeared not to have been followed. The inspector had failed to view the site of the accident and did not request technical assistance from the Ministry or issue orders to address contraventions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. He even told Ombudsman staff that he relied on information provided by the company because he had previously worked there and he knew and trusted its employees. None of these problems were identified by Ministry staff who reviewed the inspector’s material.
The injured worker had also complained that he was never informed of the results of the investigation. The Ombudsman probe found that the Ministry did not have any written policy or procedures for keeping injured workers informed of their investigations.
In response to the Ombudsman’s review, the Ministry apologized to the injured man and agreed to a number of changes, including improving its conflict of interest policy, adopting new procedures for quality assurance in investigations and developing policy and procedures for communicating with injured workers about the progress and results of Ministry investigations.