$60,000 Fine Imposed for Housekeeping Violation

Workers employed at an apartment building construction project were moving metal crown moulding from a swing stage attached to a balcony. They got the moulding onto the balcony but couldn’t get it into the apartment because the rooms were full of material and debris. So they decided to position the moulding through the patio door. One worker went into the apartment and held one end. When he started to walk backward around a stack of drywall sheets that were lying in the middle of the room, his foot got stuck on a piece of scrap metal and he fell sideways, breaking his leg. Sec. 35(1) of the Construction Projects Regulation requires waste material and debris to be removed to a disposal area and reusable material removed to a storage area at least once daily. The employer pleaded guilty to violating this requirement and was fined $60,000 [Drewlo Construction Ltd., Govt. News Release, May 12, 2015].