Forklift and front-end loader collided, injuring the worker
Ontario employer Coldstream Concrete Limited has been fined $75,000 for a 2020 forklift incident that caused critical injuries to one worker.
Coldstream entered a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court, London, Ont. Justice of the Peace Abdul Chahbar; Crown Counsel, Dan Phelan handed down the fine.
The company must also pay a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act, to be credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
Coldstream Concrete is a manufacturer of precast concrete products for the construction and drainage industries.
The incident happened on July 25, 2022, when a worker was operating various lifting devices at the company’s facility in Ilderton, Ont. These devices were used to move concrete products in and out of a casting area located inside the company’s main building.
After delivering a product to the casting area, the worker returned to an outdoor yard using a forklift to collect another piece.
While approaching a ramp that led to the main building, the forklift collided with a front-end loader travelling down the ramp.
The collision resulted in critical injuries to the forklift operator.
'Traffic management plan could have prevented the forklift incident'
In its investigation, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation determined that the incident could have been avoided had the company used a traffic management plan.
“Coldstream Concrete Limited failed as an employer to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker at a workplace contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the provincial government.
