After a worker was fatally injured at a construction site, Newmarket construction company 2671475 Ontario Inc. was fined $75,000 following a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice last week.
The construction worker was fatally injured in 2021 when falling under the wheel of a reversing forklift. By failing to provide a signaler during the accident, 2671475 Ontario Inc., 1100 Gorham St., Unit 18, violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act, according to the court.
On Nov. 30, 2021 the construction worker was erecting retaining walls for a four-storey apartment building when “contrary to safety procedures,” 2671475 Ontario Inc. failed, as an employer, to ensure a worker was protected by means of a signaller as outlined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the court stated.
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.
According to court documents, 2671475 Ontario Inc. was the constructor of an apartment building on Cemetery Road in Uxbridge and the job entailed moving pallets of blocks with a forklift designed for movement on rough terrain. The machine had a telescoping boom with a forklift attachment.
The worker, employed by a subcontractor, asked the forklift operator, who was employed by the defendant, to move four pallets of blocks from the front of the project to the rear.
After dropping the fourth pallet at the rear, the forklift operator proceeded to reverse the machine back to the front of the project.
To provide signalling assistance, the contract worker moved to the right side of the forklift, then stepped closer to the machine’s rear wheels to ensure the operator could see their hand signals.
After, the operator lost sight of the contract worker in the passenger side view mirror and immediately stopped the machine.
There were no witnesses to the incident, but it was deemed that evidence appears to show the worker slipped on snow and mud, falling under the wheel of the moving vehicle, fatally injuring the worker.
Contrary to the signaller requirements of the regulation, the contract worker was not in full view of the forklift operator and was not clear of the intended path of the machine’s travel.
An investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development determined the forklift’s right-side mirror had limited visibility due to its positioning and blockage by the machine’s boom and hoses. As the operator did not have a clear view of the path of the machine’s travel, it was required that a signaller assist.
