Electrical Company and Client Fined After Ontario Worker Injured in Fall

June 2, 2016

Inadequate lockout/tagout led to an Ontario electrical worker sustaining serious injuries in a 22-foot fall. The electrical company that employed the worker was fined $25,000. The car dealership that had hired the electrical company was fined $65,000.

The electrical worker and an electrical apprentice were at the dealership to locate the source of an electrical short problem in a rooftop heating unit. The wires leading to the heating unit were too small, so the two workers were trying to run electrical wires through a conduit located at ceiling height.

Both workers were using a skyjack supplied by the defendant in an area known as the sprinter bay area. The electrical apprentice attempted to leave through the sprinter bay door to unravel new wires. When the apprentice hit the button to open the door, the breaker switch for the door was left in the “on” position. The door then opened, and as it moved on overhead rails it knocked over the skyjack, causing the electrical worker to fall.

The electrical company pleaded guilty for failing to ensure equipment that could endanger a worker had been locked out. The dealership was found guilty of failing to inform a worker or a person in authority over a worker of any hazard in the work.