Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
A worker, employed by Regional Sewer and Watermain Ltd., of Cambridge, Ontario was injured after falling from the bucket of a front-end loader. Regional Sewer and Watermain Ltd. failed to ensure the worker did not use the bucket of the front-end loader as a work platform, which is prohibited by section 107 of Ontario Regulation 213/91 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
On November 3, 2021, the company’s construction crew was on site at a project on Myers Road in Cambridge when a crew supervisor instructed them to remove a decommissioned hydro service to an existing building at the project.
The foreperson asked an equipment operator to meet them by the building with a front-end loader. When the operator arrived with the front-end loader, the foreperson stepped into the bucket and gave a hand signal to raise the bucket, which brought them up high enough to cut the wires to the hydro service on the building.
When the foreperson finished cutting the wires, the wires recoiled, causing the foreperson to lose balance and fall out of the bucket to the ground below.
Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court in Kitchener, Regional Sewer and Watermain Ltd. was fined $150,000 by Justice of the Peace Michael A. Cuthbertson. Crown Counsel was Daniel Kleiman.
The court also imposed 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.
My opinion
The law(s) in contravention:
Regional Sewer and Watermain Ltd., was found guilty of a contravention of the Ontario ‘Construction’ sector regulation 213/91, section 107 which states,
“No worker shall use as a work place a platform, bucket, basket, load, hook or sling that is capable of moving and that is supported by a fork-lift truck, front-end loader or similar machine.”
This is in direct contravention of the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), section 25, subsection 1(c) which states,
“An employer shall ensure that,
(c) the measures and procedures prescribed are carried out in the workplace.”
This should not have happened. The supervisor should have completed a JHA (Job Hazard Analysis) prior to any work being done. If he/she HAD completed the JHA, this may not have ever happened.
HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs. Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259.
Ensure your workplace is a safe place.
Remember – In Ontario, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”
‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.
Daniel L. Beal
CHSEP – Advanced Level
CEO & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.