One worker was hurt when a construction rebar cage fell onto them
Two Canadian employers are facing six-figure fines after two workers suffered injuries in separate incidents.
Saskatchewan-based Horizon Drilling must pay a court imposed fine of $107,142.90 with a $42,857.10 surcharge, for a total amount of $150,000.
On July 19, 2019, a worker suffered serious injuries while attempting to diagnose a hydraulic line that was leaking hydraulic oil near the Kisbey village.
On June 14, 2023, the employer pleaded guilty in Carlyle Provincial Court to one violation of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996.
“The company was fined for contravening clause 12(c) of the regulations (being an employer, fail to comply with the duties of an employer at a place of employment including the provision of any information, instruction, training and supervision that is necessary to protect the health and safety of workers at work, resulting in the serious injury of a worker). One additional charge was withdrawn,” said the Saskatchewan government.
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Meanwhile, Ontario employer Resform Construction was fined $140,000 by Justice Rick Libman.
The employer 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.
The incident happened on Nov. 11, 2021, when two workers employed by the employer were preparing the ground floor air shaft between two buildings for the installation of forms around a steel rebar cage. At that time, the company was contracted by a high-rise constructor to perform concrete formwork in the construction of two residential towers, one 24 storeys and the other 12 storeys high.
While the two workers were taking measurements to determine the required materials for installing the forms around the rebar cage, the rebar cage fell on one of the workers, resulting in critical injuries.
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found that the rebar cage collapsed and fell onto the worker because it was not secured in place. The rebar cage was free standing in place and the two tie wire connections to the rebar cage were not secured to the existing structure.
The employer entered a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto.
“In failing to ensure that the steel rebar cage was adequately braced, Resform Construction Ltd. failed, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 31(1)(b) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 were carried out in the workplace, contrary to section 23(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the Ontario government.
Previously, Ontario employer Canadian Waste Management was also fined $50,000 after one of its workers was critically injured in their line of work.
