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Maple construction company fined after worker dies on the job

Concrete panel weighing more than 6,000 lbs fell onto the worker in March 2017
NewmarketToday Staff
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NEWS RELEASE
MINISTRY OF LABOUR
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Convicted: J.N.D. Erectors Limited, 270 Fletcher Dr., Maple, Ont., a company involved in commercial and residential construction.
Location of workplace: A commercial building at 130 Queens Quay East, Toronto, Ont.
Description of offence: A worker was killed when a concrete panel fell from a flatbed truck while it was being transferred with a crane and hoist.
Date of offence: March 27, 2017.

Date of sentencing: June 26, 2019.

Penalty imposed:

  • Following a trial, J.N.D. Erectors Limited was fined $200,000 by Justice of the Peace Ruby Wong in Scarborough provincial court; Crown Counsels Indira Stewart and Graeme Adams.
  • 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.

Background:

  • J.N.D. Erectors Limited was a subcontractor on the site which had the task of erecting panels of preset concrete onto the exterior wall of the building. The panels were transported via flat-bed truck and a crane and hoist were used to lift the panels from the truck.
  • On March 27, 2017, the panels arrived on the site and an employee of J.N.D. Erectors proceeded to unload them.
  • The panels were supported by two A-frames bolted to the truck, with transport chains securing two panels to each other.
  • The worker unhooked the chains from one panel; the first panel was hoisted away by crane.
  • While preparing the second panel, it shifted and toppled onto the worker. The panel weighed over 6,000 pounds.
  • The worker died from the injuries.
  • A surveillance camera captured the incident.
  • A Ministry of Labour structural engineer stated in a report that the toppling would have been avoided if the panel had been secured at all times.
  • The company was found guilty of failing as an employer to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 38 of Ontario Regulation 213/91 (the Construction Projects Regulation) were carried out. The regulation provides that "material or equipment at a project shall be stored and moved in a manner that does not endanger a worker."
  • J.N.D. Erectors had a prior health and safety conviction in 2014.

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