![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Canada-Justice-e1495719233474.jpg\")
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(This is a public service announcement from the CADC to all diving contractors – April 20 2025)<\/p>\n
A recent legal decision out of New Brunswick Feb 2025 has major implications for all of us in the commercial diving sector as well as any industrial or commercial construction industry. Don’t ignore the warning.<\/p>\n
In King v. R., 2025 NBCA 12e<\/em>, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal upheld a criminal negligence conviction<\/strong> against a worksite supervisor after the death of an 18-year-old worker. The supervisor, who failed to follow basic confined space safety protocols, was sentenced to three years in prison<\/strong>. His actions\u2014or more accurately, his inaction\u2014cost a young worker his life.<\/p>\n This decision wasn\u2019t about fines. It wasn\u2019t about policy violations. It was about criminal accountability<\/strong> under Bill C-45<\/strong>\u2014Canada\u2019s Westray Law. And for anyone directing high-risk work like commercial diving, the message could not be clearer: if you neglect safety and someone dies, you may go to jail.<\/strong><\/p>\n In the King case, a leak test was conducted in an 8-foot confined space while a young worker remained inside. No hazard assessment was done. No emergency plan was in place. No confined space procedures were followed. The supervisor didn\u2019t read the equipment\u2019s safety manual. He never warned the worker the space was going to be flooded. The result was fatal.<\/p>\n The court ruled this was a marked and substantial departure<\/strong> from what a reasonable supervisor would have done. They confirmed that a \u201ccommon sense\u201d hazard like flooding a confined space during a leak test was enough to establish criminal negligence.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s be clear\u2014this could have easily occurred in a commercial diving context: confined space entries, pipeline work, tanks, lockout-tagout failures, inadequate supervision, or improperly briefed divers. The parallels are unmistakable.<\/p>\n This case sends a message to supervisors and employers across Canada\u2014the courts are prepared to impose jail sentences when safety is ignored<\/strong>. In the diving industry, where hazards are immediate and often life-threatening, we must assume the legal threshold is even higher.<\/p>\n In the case of\u00a0 CADC members, we are expected to meet\u2014and in many cases exceed\u2014the safety standards laid out in CSA Z275.2 and Z275.4. These are not just best practices\u2014they are often incorporated directly into law. Courts will judge our actions against these standards if things go wrong.<\/p>\n For CADC Contractors – and Dive Contactors in general – and Supervisors:<\/strong><\/p>\n For Clients Who Hire CADC Members and ANY diving Contractor:<\/strong><\/p>\n King v. R.<\/em> wasn\u2019t about policy. It was about accountability. The case proved that criminal negligence laws under Bill C-45 apply to supervisors and companies who ignore known risks.<\/strong><\/p>\n In our industry, we are often dealing with confined space entries, delta P,\u00a0 unstable environments, heavy lifting, and pressure systems. If a diver is hurt or killed because a hazard was ignored, the legal consequences can be catastrophic\u2014for the supervisor, the employer, and potentially the client.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t assume this can\u2019t happen to you or your team. Now is the time to act:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (This is a public service announcement from the CADC to all diving contractors – April 20 2025) A recent legal decision out of New Brunswick Feb 2025 has major implications for all of us in the commercial diving sector as well as any industrial or commercial construction industry. Don’t ignore the warning. In King v. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest","category-law"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2133"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2138,"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133\/revisions\/2138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cadc.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhat Happened and Why It Matters<\/h3>\n
\nWhat This Means for ALL DIVING CONTRACTORS<\/h3>\n
\nWhat You Need to Do Now<\/h3>\n
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\nBottom Line<\/h3>\n
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