Company got $60,000 fine after pleading guilty
Ontario-based Aurora King Masonry Ltd. was fined $60,000 after pleading to guilty of failing, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 135(1)(c) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 were carried out at a construction project, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The fine root from a Jan. 12, 2019 incident, when Aurora King Masonry was undertaking masonry work at a project located at 12600 Kennedy Road in Caledon, Ont. The project involved the construction of a three-story seniors' residence.
On that date, two workers were working from the platform of a mast climber about 30 feet (9.14 metres) from the ground. One worker descended from the work platform to obtain fresh batteries for a tool. The worker returned and found the co-worker lying unconscious on the ground. No one witnessed the fall.
The worker suffered critical injuries.
A Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development inspector determined that the elevated work platform in question did not have a guardrail.
Section 135(1)(c) of Ontario Regulation 213/91, the regulation for construction projects, requires that a scaffold platform or other work platform be provided with a guardrail as required by section 26.3 of the regulation.
Ontario also 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.
Previously, Orin Contractors Corp. was fined $125,000 after pleading guilty to violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act which led to the death of one employee. Also, the Manitoba government fined not-for-profit theatre company Rainbow Stage (1993) Inc. a total of $16,200 for an incident that caused one worker to lose a hand while conducting work.
