Worker critically injured due to prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide
Ontario employer BNE Concrete Floors & Coatings Inc. has been fined $70,000 after one of its workers was injured in the workplace.
Following a guilty plea in provincial offences court in London, 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 happened on Jan. 4, 2023, when the company had been contracted to coat and polish concrete floors at the construction project for a new warehouse. A worker was operating a polishing machine that used an internal combustion engine that burned propane.
After running the machine for approximately 2.5 hours, the worker began to feel unwell and lost consciousness after leaving the room.
The worker suffered a serious injury from carbon monoxide exposure due to the lack of ventilation in the room, according to the Ontario government.
“By failing to ensure that there was adequate ventilation where the machine was being used, BNE Concrete Floors & Coatings Inc. failed to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed under section 47(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 were followed, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the provincial government.
Also, the company failed, as an employer, to immediately notify an inspector of a critical injury at the workplace contrary to section 51(1) of the Act.
The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development was not made aware of the incident until six days later, and the scene had not been preserved, according to the provincial government.
According to the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), carbon monoxide is “very toxic.”
Exposure through inhalation can harm the blood though “decreased ability to carry oxygen”. Symptoms may include headache, nausea, weakness, exhaustion, dizziness, drowsiness and confusion. May cause permanent damage to organs including the brain and heart.
