Blog Post #1624 – Workplace Injury Results in $80,000 Fine for Quebec Company

Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘newsroom’

A worker, employed by Andritz Hydro Canada, of Pointe-Claire, Quebec, a company that supplies hydro turbines and generators in Canada, was critically injured after being struck by a falling sole plate. By not ensuring the sole plate was adequately braced, Andritz Hydro Canada failed, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures were carried out at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Andritz Hydro Canada was a constructor and employer for a project to rehabilitate the hydroelectric generators at Red Rock Falls Generating Station located in Iron Bridge, Ontario.

On March 16, 2023, two millwrights were correcting an installation performed earlier, of three metal sole plates to the underside of a stator frame.

To align and position metal sole plates, workers insert a metal key between the top of the sole plate and the bottom of the stator frame. The three metal keys that had been used to align and position these metal sole plates had been inserted incorrectly and needed to be removed and put back into place.

The millwrights began correcting the orientation of the metal keys. On the first sole plate one of the millwrights, under the direction of the other, began loosening the bolts that held the sole plate to the stator frame.

When the bolts were fully removed, the support jack was released and the sole plate tipped inwards and fell out of its pocket, critically injuring one of the millwrights.

Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Sault Ste. Marie, Andritz Hydro Canada was fined $80,000 by Justice of the Peace Kyle Cachagee; Crown Counsel was Dan Phelan.

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:

Andritz Hydro Canada was found guilty of a contravention of the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), section 25, subsection n 1(c) which states,

“An employer shall ensure that,

(c)  the measures and procedures prescribed are carried out in the workplace.”

• Where was the supervisor in all this?
• Why were they installed incorrectly in the first place?
• Were there written instructions for the millwrights to complete the work?
• Why were the workers put at risk in the first place?

All good questions but no answers forthcoming.

HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs including ‘Due Diligence’.

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.