A B.C. teacher is barred from teaching in "any classroom in which there is machinery with moving parts" after several students were injured in his woodshop class, including one eighth-grader who lost a large clump of hair and had to get stitches after an accident with a wood planer.

Documents published by the B.C. Commissioner for Teacher Regulation show Christian Michel worked as a middle school teacher in the Greater Victoria School District until his suspension and resignation from the district in 2020.

In February of that year, Michel assigned his Grade 8 students a project that involved building small tables from pieces of wood that had to be run through an electric planer.

The student, who later became the subject of the complaint, had never used the planer and Michel did not provide instruction on how to use it, according to a consent resolution agreement signed earlier this month.

Michel also failed to tell the student that their long hair, which reached down to their waist, should be tied back when using the tool.

Michel, who was certified as a teacher in 2007, told the student to "put the four pieces of wood through the planer, and to just give each piece a push," according to the facts of the agreement.

The student got three pieces through the planer and then signalled to Michel for help when the fourth piece became stuck. Michel pulled the wood out of the back of the machine without turning the power off and then told the student to push the wood through again as he moved to another part of the room.

The student continued to struggle as the wood became stuck again. The child reached around to the back of the machine, as Michel had done, without switching the power off.

The student's hair got caught in the planer and "a large clump" was ripped from their head, an injury that required stitches, according to the agreement.

"When Michel left with [the student] to go to the office for assistance, he did not turn off the power supply to the wood shop, nor did he provide any instructions to the class," the agreement says.

Just days prior to the injury, the school district's machine maintenance worker was in Michel's shop and noticed a student operating a drill press while their long hair hung loose.

According to the agreement, the employee warned Michel the student's hair could get caught in the machine. Michel handed the student a hair tie, but the student did not tie their hair back and continued to use the drill press.

The school district suspended Michel on Feb. 26, 2020, the day after the head injury, under a section of the B.C. School Act that allows the superintendent to issue a suspension, with pay, "if the superintendent of schools is of the opinion that the welfare of the students is threatened by the presence of an employee."

Michel resigned from the Greater Victoria School District on June 30, 2020.

The wood planer injury was not the first time the district had raised safety concerns about Michel's class.

Eight students were injured in Michel's classroom between May and December 2017, prompting the school principal to speak with him. The school district's occupational health and safety manager also launched an investigation in response to the injuries.

The school district met with Michel in January 2018 to reiterate its concerns about the eight injured students. As part of the meeting, the district arranged for Michel to observe another shop teacher to see how to reduce risks in his class.

The school district concluded its investigation into the eight student injuries on May 31, 2018. The investigation found several factors contributed to the injuries, including a lack of safety signage or instructions on shop tools; inconsistent instruction from the teacher; a cramped shop layout with no safe zones; and tools that were too advanced for his students.

In September 2018, the school principal wrote an email to Michel, which included a reminder not to let his students use the shop's vertical sander on pieces of wood that were too small.

Two weeks later, a Grade 6 student was injured while using the sander with a piece of wood that was too small.

Following the injury, Michel signed an investigation report that recommended he not allow Grade 6 students to use the vertical sander again.

The province's commissioner for teacher regulation ordered an investigation in July 2020 and proposed a consent resolution agreement to Michel the following June.

Under the agreement, Michel admitted to professional misconduct, and is barred from teaching "in any applied design, skills and technology education classroom in the K-12 education system, which includes any classroom in which there is machinery with moving parts, regardless of whether it is in use while Michel is teaching the class."

The teacher may apply in writing to the commissioner to change or remove the restriction if he completes safety training and demonstrates he can protect students from physical injury in his classroom. 

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