In-Depth Analysis
Construction Upheaval: Potentially Landscape-Altering OHS Case – November 2019
Potential implications for municipalities and other owners of construction projects.
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Cheryl A. Edwards
Partner Toronto, T: 647.777.8283 C: 416.452.4958 F: 416.862.8247 cedwards@mathewsdinsdale.com
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Katrina Sorochinsky, Paralegal Assistant 416.862.8280 x391 ksorochinsky@mathewsdinsdale.com
Biography
Bar admission
Law Society of Ontario
Education
Osgoode Hall Law School, LL.B.
Membership and affiliations
American Bar Association
Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers (CACE)
Canadian Bar Association
Canadian Labour Law Association
Global Occupational Safety and Health Network
International Organization of Employers
Ontario Bar Association
Women in Occupational Health and Safety Society
Profile
Cheryl is a senior partner in our national Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) and Workers’ Compensation practice. A former Ontario OHS Prosecutor, Cheryl has over 30 years of experience in advising on strategic and practical approaches for management of workplace safety issues including the complexities of OHS due diligence, contractor management, accident response strategies, and discipline for safety matters. She frequently advises on national and federal OHS programs. She has defended and represented Canadian employers, constructors, senior management, and supervisors in some of the most serious and complex health and safety trials, complaints, inquests and appeals. She provides hard hitting and practical OHS training on due diligence, contractor management and other topics to management and supervisors.
Cheryl led a national OHS practice group as well as an international OHS practice group prior to joining Mathews Dinsdale. She has been repeatedly listed as a leading lawyer in workers’ compensation in Best Lawyers in Canada, and a leading occupational health and safety practitioner in the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory. Cheryl also regularly provides practical advice and representation in grievance arbitration and labour board proceedings. She is a frequent speaker at in house training sessions and professional conferences.
Representative experience
December 2019Successfully represented general contractor on all charges under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations relating to a fall through a roof opening. All charges withdrawn without a trial — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
December 2019Successful representation of general contractor on charges under Ontario OHSA arising from worker fall from false work after false work collapsed. Defence of due diligence accepted. All charges withdrawn — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
December 2018Successfully represented metal processing and distribution business on OHSA charges relating to upright metal coil storage. Critical injury to one worker. All charges dismissed after trial. Co-counsel: Jeremy Warning (Charter Application) Matt Craig (Trial)
September 2018Successfully represented installer at construction project on all charges under Ontario Occupational Health & Safety Act pertaining to electrical contact by elevated work platform at project. All charges dismissed after trial, successful argument that all charges ought to be dismissed for delay contrary to section 11 (b) of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Counsel at trial: Cheryl Edwards
January 2018Successfully represented business as lead counsel on complex case arising out of workplace fire and explosion. Fatal injury to one worker and serious injuries to multiple additional workers. All Criminal Code and OHS charges dismissed. Assisted as counsel in Criminal Code matter; acted as lead counsel in OHS matter. Research and assistance: Matt Craig.
December 2017Successfully represented construction business and developer on charges under Ontario Occupational Health & Safety Act. Complex case involving collapse of a utility vault and vault cover on a public way, workers on a mobile elevated work platform, question arose regarding of the application of the Ontario OHSA and construction regulations, load and loadbearing capacity. Fatal injury to one worker and serious injuries to second worker. All charges dismissed on a motion for directed verdict by the defence. — Counsel at Trial: Cheryl Edwards – Research and Assistance at Trial: Matt Craig
July 2014Successfully represented construction employer and supervisor in charges related to securing of pipe on construction projects and industry standards. All charges dismissed after trial — Counsel at Trial: Cheryl Edwards – Research and Submissions: Jeremy Warning | Click here for full text of decision
May 2014Advised federally regulated telecommunications business on OHS aspects of contractor management processes, contract language, reasonable care and due diligence when retaining provincially regulated contractors — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards and Dan Attwell
May 2014Advised and created comprehensive program for national retailer acting as prime or constructor in connection with significant construction project. Advised on contract language, policies and procedures, practical issues — Counsel and Advisors: Cheryl A. Edwards and David Marchione
December 2013Advised and represented airline carrier on multiple OHS claims and work refusal cases, workers’ compensation claims, social media aspects of assertion by airline workers that a particular substance was toxic to their health — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
September 2013Successfully Represented Superintendent of Mining Operation charged in double fatality before Ontario courts. Succeeded in securing withdrawal of all charges based upon reasonable care and reasonable reliance on mistake of fact defence — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
July 2013Successfully represented Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (AECL) in appeal of an OHS direction by HRSDC dealing with respiratory protection for workers potentially exposed to radiological hazards. Direction would have required replacement of thousands of respirators, re-training of workers over a period of multiple years, and operational changes. Successfully obtained a suspension of the direction, assisted client in retaining leading expert in radiological respiratory hazards and negotiating potential beneficial change to federal legislation with the federal regulator. All directions rescinded after a hearing — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards — Link to decision here
December 2012Successful representation of employer and manager of hospital premises on charges under Ontario OHSA arising out of a critical injury at the workplace. All charges withdrawn — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
November 2012Successful representation of national business on charges under Ontario OHSA arising from guarding accident at the workplace. Successful defence based upon erroneous engineering opinion, leading to defence of reasonable reliance on mistaken set of facts — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
November 2012November 2012
Developed, coordinated and provided strategic advice to North American steel product manufacturer on audit for corporate Safety Steering Committee and Board of Directors on Occupational Health and Safety due diligence measures being taken by corporation — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
September 2012
Successful representation of engineering firm acting as constructor at construction project, charged under Ontario OHSA along with superintendent, in relation to a worker fall from a scaffold. Defence of due diligence accepted. All charges withdrawn — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
December 2011Developed National Workplace Violence Prevention Policy and Program for Canadian operations of global manufacturer — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
October 2011Successful representation of Corporation, President, Senior Manager on charges arising out of asbestos regulations in Ontario, defence of due diligence accepted — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
September 2011Successful representation of North American food products manufacturer on Appeal of Ministry of Labour Orders relating to movement of materials within facility. Orders rescinded. Successfully prevented charges under Ontario OHSA — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
December 2010Representation of federally regulated employer on charges under Canada Labour Code arising from double fatality in confined space — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
October 2008Successful representation of general contractor on charges under Ontario OHSA arising from worker fall from the open side of a construction project. Defence of due diligence accepted. All charges withdrawn — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
September 2008Advised national retailer on development of comprehensive safety standards for all operations nationally pertaining to multiple areas of risk, coordinating advice from all Canadian jurisdictions in which retailer operates — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards and Jeremy Warning
Successfully represented general contractor on all charges under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations relating to alleged operation of equipment without a signaller. All charges withdrawn without a trial — Counsel: Cheryl A. Edwards
Industry recognition
Best Lawyers® in CanadaWorkers’ Compensation Law
Canadian Legal Lexpert DirectoryOccupational Health & Safety and Workers’ Compensation Law
Chambers and Partners CanadaEmployment and Labour Law – Ontario
Canadian OH&S MagazineReaders Choice Award
Insights
Events
Webinar Recording
January 24, 2019
You’ve Had a Workplace Accident! Managing the OHS Risk – Coast to Coast
Read moreArticles and Papers
June 6, 2019Cheryl A. Edwards authored the article “Criminal Prosecutions for OHS Accidents: Are They Advancing Safety?” for Canadian Occupational Safety Magazine
November 16, 2019Cheryl A. Edwards, Jeremy Warning, Deanah Shelley authored the article “”Construction Upheaval: Potentially Landscape- Altering OHS Case” for the firm’s OHS & Workers’ Compensation Advisor
March 7, 2019Cheryl A. Edwards and Jeremy Warning authored the article “Safety Failures – Hidden Costs and Consequences” for the March, 2019 issue of Canadian Occupational Safety Magazine
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