Canadian Occupational Safety

8 www.cos-mag.com Canadian Occupational Safety FINES & PENALTIES CRANE RENTAL COMPANY MUST PAY $53,000 All Canada Crane Rental must pay a total of $53,000 for an offence con- trary to Nova Scotia's Workplace Health and Safety Regulations where a worker suffered a broken leg, broken collar bone, concussion and brain injury and spent two weeks in hospital. The company was fined $20,000, plus a $3,000 victim fine surcharge. It was also required to make a $30,000 donation to the Min- ister's Occupational Health and Safety Education Trust Fund. All Canada Crane Rental previously operated a crane yard in Goodwood, N.S. On July 17, 2017, its employees were using a crane to unload crane boom sections from a flat-bed truck and stack them in the yard. During this work, employee James Beau- din fell inside the crane boom section to the ground, landing on a steel lattice. Beaudin suffered serious injuries and he has not been able to return to work. The distance from where Beaudin was working was less than three metres, but the work area was above a surface or thing that could cause injury to the person on contact. As a result, fall pro- tection was required. "There was no reason not to do this work safely," said senior Crown attorney Alex Keaveny. "Sadly, this is another case where the real explanation for the lack of safety is 'This was just how they always did things.' The risks were obvious and should have been obvious to All Canada. Using fall protection would have been cheap and easy." All Canada Crane Rental entered a guilty plea on April 10 to an offence contrary to section 21.2 (1)(b) of the Workplace Health and Safety Regulations, NS Reg52/2013, being an offence contrary to section 74(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. CONTRACTOR FINED $120,750 AFTER WORKERS INJURED ON ATV D & J Isley & Sons Contracting has been fined a total of $120,750 due to serious injuries with an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). An equipment operator and a second worker were travelling to their work site in Grande Prairie, Alta. on an ATV when it stalled on a sloped road. The vehicle began to roll downhill and the brakes did not work so the equipment operator steered the vehicle into a washout ditch, injuring both workers. D & J Isley & Sons Contracting Ltd. was found guilty of violating section 12(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Regulations, failing to ensure equipment was maintained in a condition that would not compromise the safety of workers using it. They were also found guilty of violating section 15(1) of the OHS Regulations, failing to ensure a worker was trained in the safe operation of the equipment the worker was required to operate. D & J Isley & Sons Contracting was also placed on one year of enhanced regulatory supervision through section 75 of the OHS Act, which is similar to corporate probation. CABINET MANUFACTURER FINED $100,000 Decor Cabinets of Morden, Man. has been fined a total of $100,000 for two separate workplace injuries. On April 11, 2016, a worker was manufacturing cabinet drawers. The worker was utilizing a Dodds Clamp machine. The clamping device on the machine was activated using a lever located on the front left side of the machine. While the worker was holding the sides of a drawer between the clamps, she used her left knee to activate the clamp lever. This resulted in the clamp closing on the sides of the drawer while the worker's hands where still positioned between the drawer and the clamps. Both of the worker's hands were pinched between the clamps of the machine and the drawer on which she was working. The worker suffered compression injuries to both hands and Decor Cabinets was fined $25,000. On Sept. 22, 2016, a Decor Cabinets worker was cleaning the interior components of a Novimat Concept L 2425 Bander machine. The worker's hand came into contact with a cutting head. The worker sustained lacerations and the partial amputation of his right-hand index and middle fingers. Decor Cabinets was fined $50,000 plus an additional $25,000 payable to Workplace Safety and Health to be used for the purpose of educating the public on matters relating to workplace safety and health. NEW WORKER DEATH RESULTS IN NEARLY $160K FINE FOR MINE Tsetsaut Ventures has been fined $159,812 for a worker fatality. This firm was providing operational support at a mine at Brucejack Lake, B.C. A new worker in a machine shop was inflating a tire on a rim assembly when the rim assembly blew apart. The components struck and fatally injured the worker. WorkSafeBC's investigation determined that, at the time of the incident, the firm did not have an adequate health and safety program. The firm also did not have safe operating procedures for rim assembly and disassembly or for tire inflation. In addition, there was no evidence that the worker had received a site orientation or new worker training. This firm failed to ensure that its workers were made aware of all known health or safety hazards, and it failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety. In addition, the firm failed to ensure that new workers were given health and safety orientation and training prior to beginning work, and failed to establish OHS policies and programs. Furthermore, the firm failed to maintain a joint health and safety committee. OTTAWA CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES, SUPERVISORS FINED TOTAL OF $677,500 Claridge Homes and Bellai Brothers Construction along with two supervisors have been fined $677,500 for the death of a worker who was struck by a large piece of ice while working in an excavation. Claridge Homes and Bellai Brothers were both fined $325,000. Leo Simard was fined $15,000 and Michael Lwow was fined $12,500. Both men were site supervisors. The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge. The defendants were involved in the construction of a 46-storey condominium building in Ottawa with a nine-storey underground parking garage. This project included one of the deepest building basement excavations to be carried out in Canada and involved the digging of a 30-metre-deep excavation. Claridge Homes was the constructor and Bellai Brothers performed the structural concrete work for the building. Another company was contracted to dig the excavation. On Feb. 4, 2016, a worker and safety representative for Bellai Brothers was struck in the back by falling ice from the south wall. The worker was not seriously injured, and an Ontario Ministry of Labour inspector attended that same day. The inspector observed equipment used to remove ice with pressurized hot water and issued no work orders related to ice removal, concluding that sufficient precautions were being taken. Workers were frequently warned to watch out for the ice and to stay clear of the south wall. No safe distance was specified beyond the existence of a snow fence placed at 15 feet (4.5 metres) from the wall. On March 21 and 22, the excavated rock pile in front of the south wall was removed. The snow fence was not re-erected. On March 23, a worker, Olivier Bruneau, went into the excavation to begin preparing for a new footing. Shortly after, Bruneau was struck by a large piece of ice estimated to be four metres in length and 56 kilograms in weight. He was about 6.2 metres (more than 20 feet) from the south wall when struck. The ice fell from a location near the top of the south wall, but below the metal netting and tarps. Emergency workers attended to the scene, but Bruneau succumbed to the injuries. The defendants failed to ensure that a wall of an excavation was stripped of loose ice that may slide, roll or fall upon a worker, contrary to section 232(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/91, the Construction Projects Regulation.

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