There were 15 OHS fines of over $50,000 reported across Canada in December 2023. Not surprisingly, Ontario accounted for most of the fines with 11, followed by BC with 2 and Manitoba and Saskatchewan with one apiece. However, BC reported the highest fine, a $710,448 administrative monetary penalty against the provincial government for high-risk violations at a site where trees were being cleared to reduce wildfire risks.
The next biggest fine was the $500,000 penalty imposed on an Ontario forestry products company for a lockout violation that resulted in a fatality to an electrician making repairs to a debarking machine. Failure to properly lockout and deenergize machinery before and during servicing was the main theme in December, accounting for 4 of the 15 reported fines. There were also multiple fines for incidents involving falls that could have been prevented, including a $200,000 penalty against a Saskatchewan fertilizer producer for failing to guard the floor opening that an unsuspecting worker stepped into. This was the second highest OHS fine in Saskatchewan in 2023, trailing only the $250,000 penalty levied against an electrical company for a fatality in July.
Here’s a summary of all of the major OHS fines from December.
OHS Fines Reported in December 2023 (over $50,000)
Jurisdiction | Fine | Company | What Happened | Violation(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
BC | $710,448 | Provincial Govt. | Inspectors spot hi-risk violations at site where trees being cleared to reduce wildfire risks | *Unsafe falling cuts, including stumps with insufficient holding wood *Failure to monitor work *Failure to ensure work performed by properly certified workers |
ON | $500,000 | Resolute FP Canada Inc. | De-barking machine unexpectedly starts up and kills electrician making repairs | Failure to ensure machine was properly locked out |
ON | $280,000 | Waste Management of Canada Corp. | Worker at landfill site killed by dump truck moving in reverse | Failure to ensure that a signaler was in place and proper traffic safety measures were followed |
SK | $200,000 | Nutrien Ltd. | Worker steps into unguarded floor opening and suffers serious injuries | Failure to ensure floor openings covered by a secure covering |
ON | $190,000 | Lehigh Cement Ltd | 3 workers performing maintenance on a cement kiln suffer injuries in a flash fire caused by gas accumulation in a swirl air fan | Failure to ensure that both valves of the swirl air fan were closed before letting natural gas flow into the system |
ON | $170,000 | Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. | Worker suffers critical injuries while conducting maintenance and repair on an industrial fan that wasn’t properly deenergized | Failure to ensure fan was repaired only when potentially dangerous motion was stopped and/or blocked |
ON | $150,000 | Regional Sewer and Watermain Ltd. | Worker cutting overhead wires suffers serious injuries after falling out of the bucket of a front-end loader | Failure to prevent workers from using the loader as an elevated work platform |
ON | $125,000 | Consbec Inc. | Construction drill rig on uneven ground tips over and falls on worker causing fatal injuries | Failure to ensure worker got sufficient info, instruction and supervision on safe operation of the drill rig |
ON | $100,000 | Sin Structures Inc. | Supervisor critically injured by pinch point at bridge construction site | Failure to ensure the bridge girder/truss was moved in a safe way |
ON | $80,000 | Dilico Anishinabek Family Care | Resident of mental health treatment home attacks 2 workers at the facility | Failure to assess workplace violence risks at the facility |
BC | $78,721 | Super-Cut Lumber Industries Ltd | Sawmill worker attempting to remove a sliver from moulder that’s still running gets caught in cutting head and suffers serious injuries | Failure to ensure that energy isolating devices were secured with locks and required machine guards were in place |
ON | $75,000 | Misteelco Inc | Worker killed while moving a heavy metal beam at metal fabrication plant | Failure to ensure the beam was handled safely |
ON | $70,000 | Geerlinks Building Centre and Furniture Ltd. o/a Geerlinks Home Hardware Building Centre | Worker killed by a forklift operated by a co-worker in a lumberyard | Failure to provide workers proper info, instruction and/or supervision on safe operation of forklift |
MB | $65,000 | Manitoba Hydro | Worker removing fiberglass arms on concrete hydro pole contacted lines carrying 7,200 volts causes arc flash resulting in second-degree burns to the face | Failure to ensure that the crew properly deenergized the lines before starting the work |
ON | $65,000 | Alcot Plastics Ltd. | Worker injured while trying to clear a jam on a production line | Failure to ensure a machine was guarded to prevent access to a pinch point |
Source: Bongarde
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