James MacKillop, 1949-1993
Just days into the new year of 1993, a 44-year-old Sydney steelworker was killed in the mill’s rail yard. [1] James “Roddie” MacKillop, the first fatality at the plant in seven years, was killed when steel rails were driven through the window of the locomotive that he was driving. MacKillop had been employed at the plant for 23 years; he left behind his wife, Theresa, and two daughters, Allison and Shauna. [2] His is the only name on the steelworkers’ monument for the 1990s.
By the 1990s, the fatality numbers at the Sydney steel plant had decreased dramatically as equipment was sold and jobs were cut. The implementation of new safety policies during the 1980s, coupled with the realization by the steel plant management that increased safety caused less numerous claims for compensation, resulted in a much safer workplace. In 1996, the Nova Scotia government passed the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which placed primary responsibility for the maintenance of a safe and healthy workplace on the employer. [3] These factors, in combination with the decreasing capacity of the plant, resulted in fewer deaths than any other decade in the plant’s history.
Footnotes
[1] Chronicle-Herald, 11 January 1993.
[2] Chronicle-Herald, 12 January 1993.
[3] Nova Scotia. Occupational Health and Safety Act (1996).
By the 1990s, the fatality numbers at the Sydney steel plant had decreased dramatically as equipment was sold and jobs were cut. The implementation of new safety policies during the 1980s, coupled with the realization by the steel plant management that increased safety caused less numerous claims for compensation, resulted in a much safer workplace. In 1996, the Nova Scotia government passed the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which placed primary responsibility for the maintenance of a safe and healthy workplace on the employer. [3] These factors, in combination with the decreasing capacity of the plant, resulted in fewer deaths than any other decade in the plant’s history.
Footnotes
[1] Chronicle-Herald, 11 January 1993.
[2] Chronicle-Herald, 12 January 1993.
[3] Nova Scotia. Occupational Health and Safety Act (1996).