Worker lost consciousness after ladder slipped backwards
Pioneer Construction has been fined $50,000 for an incident that occurred at Thunder Bay International Airport in Ontario.
The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act on the Sudbury, Ont. company.
In 2016, Pioneer Construction was contracted to resurface the asphalt of the north runway of the Thunder Bay International Airport. On July 29, 2016, a float truck operator was working near the north runway securing a mobile office unit on a float truck.
Chains were attached to the mobile office unit and a loader hoisted the mobile office unit and placed it onto the float truck. With the unit on the float truck, the worker was to climb to the top of the mobile office unit using a ladder, and detach the chains.
The worker put the ladder on the deck of the float truck to get to the top of the mobile office unit. While the worker was on the ladder, the ladder slipped backwards and down. The worker fell, lost consciousness and suffered bodily injuries.
The ladder had not been secured at the top and the bottom to prevent movement. As such, the defendant Pioneer Construction Inc. failed to comply with the section 82(2)(d) of the Construction Projects Regulation (Ontario Regulation 213/91), as required by section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Source: Ontario Ministry of Labour
