A plea agreement was reached in September 2007 in a case involving Wabush Mines, which had been charged with violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. As part of the plea agreement, the company was ordered to submit $3,500 to the Minister of Government Services for the "purpose of public education" in occupational health and safety matters.

"The Department of Government Services recognizes the importance and the benefits of Workplace Safety 3220," said the Honourable Kevin O�Brien, Minister of Government Services. "When the court system orders a creative sentence, it is an easy decision to support high schools which offer this course because it is an excellent way to increase awareness of occupational health and safety issues. It provides an opportunity to target the more vulnerable sector of the workforce, young workers, directly and empower them to know what their rights are as workers."

The purpose of this type of sentence, which has been permitted under the Occupational Health and Safety Act since early 2000, is to grant powers to the court to directly affect occupational health and safety through initiatives that were not previously available. Prior to this date, the act only allowed penalties of fines, imprisonment, or both.

"This funding will enable our school to now offer the Workplace Safety Course on a regular basis," said Lloyd Walters, Principal of William Gillett Academy. "We will also establish a fund from this contribution to pay for the cost of providing emergency level first aid training to students and staff annually."

As well, Mr. Walters indicated the school will now be able to purchase safety-related audio-visual resources that will be used at all levels of the school system to impress on students the importance of always putting safety first.

Creative sentencing has been a valuable resource to give back to communities which have been affected by workplace incidents. Over the last two years, creative sentencing funding has been distributed to high schools in Glenwood, Bishop�s Falls, Grand Falls-Windsor, Corner Brook and Lewisporte. In addition, funding has also been used for training and public advertising.

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