Canadian Occupational Safety (COS) magazine is the premier workplace health and safety publication in Canada. We cover a wide range of topics ranging from office to heavy industry, and from general safety management to specific workplace hazards.
Issue link: https://digital.thesafetymag.com/i/1188026
8 www.thesafetymag.com Canadian Occupational Safety CRANE HIT SCISSOR LIFT, INJURED OPERATOR Fire Sand Glass Real Estate is required to pay a total of $84,000 for a worker injury — a $60,000 fine and a surcharge of $24,000. The company pleaded guilty to contravening clause 5(b) of Saskatchewan's Occupational Health and Safety (Prime Contractor) Regulations: being a prime contractor, failure to ensure that all activities at the required work site that may affect the health and safety of workers or self-employed persons are co-ordinated, resulting in the serious injury of a worker. Charges stemmed from an incident that occurred on Aug. 18, 2016, near Saskatoon. A worker operating a scissor lift sustained serious injuries when the lift was struck by an overhead crane and knocked to the ground. In December 2018, Saskatoon company Prairie Crane pleaded guilty to one charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations for the same incident. FINES & PENALTIES TTC FINED $331K FOR WORKER FATALITY IN WORK YARD The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has been fined a total of $331,250 after a worker was fatally crushed between a workcar and a pickup truck. The court imposed a fine of $265,000 and a victim fine surcharge of $66,250. On Oct. 1, 2017, TTC employees were conducting maintenance on the Scarborough Rapid Transit line (SRT) at the McCowan yard. At one point, a workcar operator was preparing to leave, but their sight lines from the forward- facing cab meant that their view was obstructed by the workcar, and the pickup truck was not visible to them. As the workcar proceeded forward, the right rear corner made contact with the driver's side of the pickup truck, shattering the driver's side window. Tom Dedes, a TTC employee for 18 years, was crushed between the back right corner of the workcar and the rear driver side of the pickup. He was taken to hospital but succumbed to his injuries several days later. According to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, the TTC failed to take the reasonable precaution of providing a trained and qualified SRT workcar monitor to observe the movement of the workcar, while in direct communication with the workcar operator, to ensure the workcar did not make contact with workers, vehicles or equipment. After the incident, the TTC implemented upgrades to lighting, visual markings and an engineered barrier around the track area. Employees also received training on the importance of being vigilant when walking and working in areas with moving equipment. Workcar operators are not required to communicate with a foreperson and transit control to verify clearances around the workcar and confirm it is safe to move. "Everyone, from myself and TTC executives to our managers and supervisors to our front-line employees, has a role to play in promoting and being accountable for a culture of workplace safety," said Rick Leary, CEO of the TTC. "I pledge to continue to learn from this tragedy with an eye to never seeing it repeated." PEACE RIVER HYDRO PARTNERS FINED MORE THAN $662K Peace River Hydro Partners has been fined $662,102 by WorkSafeBC. A worker at this firm's work site in Fort St. John, B.C. accessed the main circuit breaker in a high-voltage electrical cabinet on the firm's tunnelling equipment. An electrical discharge occurred and the worker sustained an electrical shock injury. WorkSafeBC inspected the site and observed that the main electrical breaker extensions on the exterior cabinet door were not functioning, the de-energization switches had been circumvented and the main breaker switch- box isolation covers were in disrepair. In addition, WorkSafeBC determined that it was a standard work practice at this site to access the main circuit breaker without following lockout procedures. A stop-use order was issued for the tunnelling equipment. The firm failed to ensure its equipment was capable of safely performing its functions, and it failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety, WorkSafeBC said. These were both repeated violations. The firm also failed to effectively isolate and control hazardous energy sources, a high-risk violation. LAFARGE FINED $500,000 FOR FATAL FALL Lafarge Canada has been fined $500,000 after a worker fell from a walkway. The court imposed a fine of $400,000 along with a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act of $100,000. On Aug. 23, 2017, a worker was giving a tour to contractors of a decommissioned cement plant in Zorra Township, Ont. They took the contractors to the upper level of the kiln buildings onto an exterior walkway. A corroded section of the walkway collapsed and the worker fell nearly 30 feet to the ground below. The walkway had corroded to the point where it was structurally unsound. It had not been braced or shored up to prevent collapse, and there were no adequate barriers, locks or other safeguards to prevent access to the kilns or walkways. Lafarge Canada failed as an employer to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed in section 72 of Ontario Regulation 851 (the Industrial Establishments Regulation) were carried out at the workplace. Section 72 of the regulation provides that where a structure is damaged to the extent that the collapse of any part of the structure is likely to occur and cause injury to a worker, the structure shall be braced and shored to prevent the collapse or effective safeguards shall be provided to prevent access to the area. Lafarge Canada has been convicted and fined for contraventions of Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2017. Three of the four convictions were related to worker fatalities. TEMP AGENCY FINED FOR WORKER DEATH Carey Industrial Services, a temp agency in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., is required to pay a total of $335,000 for a workplace fatality. On June 2, 2016, a worker was clearing blockages from a floor grate in a bulk storage facility when they were pulled into the material to the point of being completely immersed. The worker suffered fatal injuries. Carey Industrial Services pleaded guilty to section 189 of Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Code for failing to ensure where a worker may be injured if equipment or material was dislodged, moved or spilled, that the material or equipment was contained, restrained or protected to eliminate the potential danger. The company was fined $1,000 inclusive of the 15-per-cent victim fine surcharge, and it was ordered to pay $334,000 in favour of the Alberta Construction Safety Association and Safety in Schools for the development and delivery of an incident-based course focused on the internal responsibility system.