Rodco Enterprises, a Haliburton, Ont.-based construction company, was fined $50,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a worker was injured, a Ministry of Labour report said.
A supervisor from the company was also fined $2,500 in relation to the same incident.
On Dec. 21, 2010, workers from Rodco were at a residential construction site on Kennisis Lake Rd. in Haliburton. The workers were laying sheets of chip board on a deck. The deck's framing was complete but no floor had been laid. While positioning a chip board, one of the workers stepped backwards and fell between two deck joists. The worker fell over 3.66 meters to the ground and sustained fractures and a back injury.
Rodco Enterprises pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that a guardrail or fall arrest system was used while workers were exposed to a fall hazard of three meters or more, the ministry said.
Following the injury, Rodco's site supervisor directed workers to install guardrails and the deck floor before the Ministry of Labour attended the scene. This was done without the permission of a ministry inspector.
The supervisor pleaded guilty to interfering with, disturbing or altering articles or things at the scene of a critical workplace injury.
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.
