Electrical Contractor and Supervisor Fined $110,000 for Falling Injury

Nov 18, 2018 

In May 2016, an electrical worker fell from a ladder and suffered permanent injuries while performing electrical wiring work. An investigation by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour led to a prosecution, which resulted in a $100,000 fine for the employer — a Bradford, Ontario electrical contractor —and a $10,000 fine for the worker’s supervisor. 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.

Slips, trips and falls are a primary cause of lost-time injuries, and occur in virtually all industry sectors. In this instance, the electrical contractor had been hired by a construction company to carry out all electrical installations for the project, which involved renovating an office building in Toronto’s west end.

When the incident occurred, two workers were tying and labelling electrical wiring in the ceiling of a renovated office area. One worker was working from a 10-foot stepladder and reaching into an area above the grid of a dropped ceiling. The worker fell from the ladder to the floor, suffering permanent injuries.

The electrical contractor was convicted of failing, as an employer, to

• provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health or safety of the worker, contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

• ensure the measures and procedures prescribed by section 125(1) of the Construction Projects Regulation (Ontario Regulation 213/91) were carried out a project. Specifically, failing to ensure that a scaffold was provided for a worker.

The supervisor was convicted of failing to ensure that a worker works in the manner and with the protective devices, measures and procedures prescribed by section 125(1) of the Construction Projects

The construction company had previously convicted of failing to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed by section 125(1) of the Construction Projects Regulation were carried out at a construction project. The company was fined $90,000 in April 2018.