Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
Gary D. Robinson Contracting Ltd. of St. Thomas, Ontario, failed to ensure that steel trusses were transported, placed or stored in a manner that would not tip, collapse or fall, as required by section 45(b)(i) of Regulation 851/90, a violation of section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
On November 14, 2022, workers were using a hydraulic tracked excavator to load open web steel trusses onto a lowboy trailer. They were using a chain attached to the bucket of the excavator to rig the trusses to the bucket. One of the workers was then responsible for chaining and un-chaining the trusses between each lift. The trusses were being stacked on the trailer in two parallel piles that stretched nearly the length of the deck of the 53-foot trailer.
A worker was walking along a stack of trusses on the trailer to unchain the most recently lifted truss when they felt the truss underneath their feet shift and jumped off the trailer. A truss then slid and fell off the trailer striking the worker and causing a critical injury.
An investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development found that the trusses involved in the incident were wet, not secured on the trailer and were stacked metal-on-metal without any dunnage placed in between each truss to prevent slipping.
Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court, St. Thomas, Gary D. Robinson Contracting Ltd. was fined $55,000 by Justice of the Peace Anna Hampson. Crown Counsel was Tyler Fram.
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:
Gary D. Robinson Contracting Ltd., was found guilty of a contravention of the Ontario ‘Industrial Establishments’ sector regulation, section 45, subsection (b)(i) which states,
“Material, articles or things,
(b) shall be transported, placed or stored so that the material, articles or things,
(i) will not tip, collapse or fall.”
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.”
It is too bad that a hazard assessment was not completed before this operation took place. There should have been asked and answered questions such as
- Where was the supervisor in all this?
- Were there any written procedures dealing with this operation?
- Has this happened before? and
- Do they have a safety professional on staff?
The safety professional would have been proficient in the OHSA as well as the sector regulation 851/90. It may have saved the critical injury to their employee and Gary D. Robinson Contracting Ltd. would not have received such negative publicity.
HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs including ‘Material Handling’.
Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259.
We can also be reached at info@hrsgroup.com
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.