Worker fell into vehicle service pit
Ontario employer McDougall Energy Inc. – which does business as Dowler-Karn – was fined $70,000 after one worker was injured in the workplace.
Following a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice, St. Thomas, the employer was also tasked to pay 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.
The incident took place on Feb. 17, 2023, when a truck driver was dispatched from Dowler-Karn’s Sarnia branch to deliver fuel. That day, however, the vehicle began experiencing mechanical problems due to ice build up on the brakes.
One of the company’s mobile technicians met the driver and temporarily fixed the problem so the truck could make the delivery.
Following the delivery, the driver drove the truck to the company’s service shop in St. Thomas for further repairs.
At that time, a senior technician was repairing an air leak in the upper safety rails on the top of the trailer and asked other workers to identify which rail was moving.
The truck driver tried to assist but had to take several steps backwards to see the top of the trailer and accidently fell four and half feet into the adjacent vehicle service pit.
The pit is 70 feet long, 42 inches wide and 64 inches deep. At the time of the incident, the pit was not in use and did not have a barricade or technician monitoring it to prevent workers from falling in, according to the Ontario government.
The driver suffered several injuries from the fall.
“McDougall Energy Inc., doing business as Dowler-Karn, failed to ensure measures were implemented to protect a worker from falling into an in-ground vehicle service pit, as required under section 13(3) of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the Ontario government.
