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| Latest Fines |
| February 2008 |
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| Ministry of Labour: Jail for Kitchener man who obstructed Ministry of Labour inspector |
TORONTO, Feb. 28 /CNW/ - A Kitchener plumbing contractor was sentenced to seven days in jail and a fine of $3,000 for pushing a Ministry of Labour health and safety inspector visiting a Toronto construction site.
Justice of the Peace J. Opalinski heard that on January 24, 2006, the inspector visited a Scarborough construction site, following up on previously issued health and safety orders. The inspector was asking two workers why they
were not wearing head protection when Ion Cenuser, the owner of a plumbing contracting business working on the site, approached. The inspector noticed and asked why Cenuser was not wearing protective footwear. Court heard that Cenuser began swearing at the inspector, who walked away and went inside the site trailer to speak to the site manager. Cenuser followed. Inside the trailer, he shouted and swore at the inspector and, finally, grabbed and pushed the inspector across the trailer.
Cenuser was convicted on a count of hindering, obstructing, molesting or interfering with an inspector in the exercise of a power or the performance of duty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, contrary to section 62(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge on the total, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime. |
| Ministry of Labour: Court Bulletin - Mississauga company fined $60,000 after two workers injured |
BRAMPTON, ON, Feb. 27 /CNW/ - DDM Plastics Company, which makes parts for the auto industry, pleaded guilty and was fined $60,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice in connection with an incident in which two workers were injured.
Justice of the Peace Irving Andre heard that on June 20, 2006, at the company's location at 2333 North Sheridan Way, Mississauga, a worker was told to stand on a mobile ladder to manually remove and lower bumpers from a
storage rack. Normally, this would have been done using a reach truck, a platform on which a worker stands to be raised and lowered, and to which he or she is tied using a fall-arrest system. But on this day, the reach truck
experienced mechanical problems and could not be used to complete the work.
The worker was attempting to pass a bumper down from the ladder stand to a co-worker below when the ladder stand became unstable, tipped and sent both workers falling to the floor, sustaining injuries.
DDM Plastics Company pleaded guilty to committing the offence of failing, as an employer, to ensure that material, articles or things to be removed from a storage area, pile or rack, were removed in a manner that would not endanger the safety of any worker. This was contrary to section 45(c) of Ontario Regulation 851 and section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge on the total, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime. |
| Ministry of Labour: Court Bulletin - Niagara Falls Company & Supervisor fined in trench death |
ST. CATHARINES, ON, Feb. 26 /CNW/ - Tony Garofalo's Concrete Works Limited was fined $120,000 and a supervisor fined $5,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice after pleading guilty in the death of a worker in a trench
collapse.
Justice of the Peace Carolyn Straughan heard that, on July 13, 2006, the company was waterproofing the basement walls of a home at 6200 Trillium Cres., Niagara Falls. Workers had dug a trench along the side of the house for the work. A worker was in the trench when its wall collapsed. The worker was buried under soil. Co-workers unsuccessfully tried resuscitation. The worker was pronounced dead at the scene.
A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the trench did not have shoring or a support system, as required under section 234(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/91, the Construction Regulation of the Occupational Health and
Safety Act, nor was it sloped as defined in the regulation, section 234(2)(f). The company pleaded guilty as a constructor to failing to comply with section 234(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/91, contrary to section 23(1)(c) of
the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Antonio Garofalo, supervisor of Tony Garofalo's Concrete Works Limited, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that access to and egress from a work area below ground was from stairs, runway, ramp or ladder, as required by section 70(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/91. This was contrary to section 27(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
In addition to the fines, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime. |
| Ministry of Labour: Court Bulletin - International Cooling Tower Inc. fined $150,000 for health and safety violation |
WHITBY, ON, Feb. 22 /CNW/ - International Cooling Tower Inc., an Edmonton, Alberta-based company that specializes in the construction and repair of cooling towers was fined $150,000 on February 19, 2008 for a
violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious injuries to a young worker.
On July 22, 2005, an apprentice carpenter employed by International Cooling Tower Inc. was working on a work platform in the interior of a cooling tower located at 1801 Hopkins Street in Whitby. The worker was believed to
have walked along a platform to obtain some fill material to be inserted into racks within the tower. The worker fell approximately 6.1 metres (20 feet) through an uncovered opening to the floor of the empty concrete well below and suffered serious spinal injuries resulting in paralysis.
A Ministry of Labour investigation found that at the time of the incident the worker was wearing a full body harness with a single lanyard and that the worker was unaware of the opening. The worker's lanyard was not attached to a
fixed support or lifeline to prevent a fall. Further, the worker should have been using a double or retractable lanyard. Although workers had been instructed to tie off their fall arrest when they were at risk of falling, the
worker was to determine when that risk existed. More training should have been provided to the worker to ensure the worker was wearing the proper fall protection.
The ministry's investigation also found that the lighting was inadequate for the worker to have seen the opening.
International Cooling Tower Inc. pleaded guilty, as an employer, to:
failing to take every reasonable precaution reasonable in the
circumstances for the protection of a worker by ensuring that the
worker used appropriate fall protection; and/or
failing to ensure the worker was protected from openings in a work
platform; and/or
failing to ensure that there was adequate lighting to protect the
health or safety of the worker.
This was contrary to Section 25(2)(h) of the act.
The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace R.G. Boychin of the Ontario Court of Justice in Whitby. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime. |
| Ministry of Labour: Concord company fined $180,000 in death of worker |
NEWMARKET, ON, Feb. 5 /CNW/ - Elderston Manor Estates Inc., of 8700 Dufferin St., Concord, Ont., pleaded guilty and was fined $180,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice following the death of a worker at a residential housing project in Vaughan.
Judge V. Lampkin heard that on August 3, 2006, a delivery truck driver employed by Mansteel Inc. drove a flatbed truck onto the construction site, delivering a load of steel bearing plates and shims. The 100 bearing plates,
each weighing about 8 kilograms (17 lb.), were in a steel barrel on the truck. Elderston's construction site supervisor instructed a worker to unload the barrel. That worker used a forklift and tried to drive its lifting forks under the barrel while the truck driver tried to help manoeuvre it onto the forks. But the barrel, not secured to the forklift in any way, fell over onto the ground on top of the truck driver.
A Ministry of Labour investigation determined that the method used to unload the barrel was hazardous and created an unstable load on the forklift. The investigation's conclusions stated that a barrel is not suitable for
handling by a forklift because it is not equipped with appropriate mechanisms for handling, such as lifting slots or pallet slots.
As constructor on the project, Elderston had overall responsibility for the safety of all workers on the site, including the truck driver. Elderston pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that steel bearing plates (which had been inside the barrel) were moved in a manner that did not endanger a worker, as required by section 37(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/91, an offence under section 23(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge on the total, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime. |
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