When you’re starting to drown between employee concerns, payroll duties and helping your CEO -- HR Insider is there to help get the logistical work out of the way.
Need a policy because of a recent regulatory change? We’ve got it for you. Need some quick training on a specific HR topic? We’ve got it for you. HR Insider provides the resources you need to craft, implement and monitor policies with confidence. Our team of experts (which includes lawyers, analysts and HR professionals) keep track of complex legislation, pending changes, new interpretations and evolving case law to provide you with the policies and procedures to keep you ahead of problems. FIND OUT MORE...
OHS Fines Scorecard for 2024 (April 11 to May 15)

Mid-April to mid-May was the biggest month of the year for reported OHS fines of over $20,000 in terms of both fine volume and fine amounts. There were 12 fines reported across Canada during the period, as opposed to 10 in the previous 4-week period. But the real headline was fine amounts.

Table 1. OHS Fines in 2024 At A Glance (through May 15)

Period Total Reported Fines Reported 6-Figure Fines
Jan to mid-Feb 11 6
Mid-Feb to mid-March 11 4
Mid-March to mid-April 10 2
Mid-April to mid-May 12 9
Total 44 21

Source: Bongarde

OHS Fines of $100,000 or More

There were 9 reported OHS fines of 6 figures or more, including 3 of the top 5 highest fines for the year--$600,000 against an Ontario truck manufacturer for a machine shop explosion that killed 6 workers and $360,000 against an Alberta heavy equipment supply company for a crane fatality.

Table 2. Top 5 OHS Fines of 2024 At A Glance (through May 15)

Fine Amount Province Type of Company/Incident
1 $710,488 British Columbia Shipyard/Confined space asphyxiation
2 $600,000 Ontario Truck manufacturer/Explosion during handling of flammables resulting in 6 fatalities
3 $390,000 Alberta Oil & gas/Excavation fatality
4 $360,000 Alberta Heavy equipment/Crane fatality
5 $350,000 Alberta Oil & gas/Pressurized materials fatality

Source: Bongarde

Ontario has reported the most 6-figure OHS fines of any province with 10 followed closely by Alberta with 8. Together, the 2 provinces have accounted for 4 of the biggest OHS fines of the year. BC, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are the only other provinces that have reported 6-figure OHS fines in 2024 with 1 apiece. All of the top 5 fines have involved critical injury, including 2 cases in which multiple workers died. Oil and gas companies have been on the receiving end of 2 of the top 5 OHS fines.

Overall OHS Fines

Of the 12 significant OHS fines reported from April 10 to mid-May, 6 came from Ontario, including a case in which a company and its corporate director were fined separately for an explosion that killed 6 workers. Alberta reported 3 major fines during the period, all of them in the 6-figure range. Saskatchewan reported 2 big fines, including a province-high $260,000 penalty for a material handling incident. BC was the only other province to make this month’s list.

Table 3. OHS Fines Reported from April 11, to May 15, 2024* (over $20,000)

Jurisdiction Fine Company What Happened Violation(s)
ON $600,000 Eastway Tank, Pump and Meter Limited Fabrication shop explosion during wet testing of tank truck kills 6 workers and seriously injures another Failure to ensure that: i. diesel fuel to be used for wet testing of trucks wasn’t contaminated with gasoline or other flammable substance; and ii. workers received safety instruction on the proper procedure for storing and handling fuel
AB $360,000 Isolation Equipment Services Inc. Overhead crane operator killed after getting pinned by materials being used to position a valve bonnet that fell out of the crane’s rigging Failure to take measures to eliminate the danger of equipment or material that was dislodged or moved
AB $330,000 Westpower Equipment Ltd. Worker operating an overhead crane to install a pump cover gets killed when the pump cover releases from the rigging and hits him Failure to ensure a worker’s health and safety
SK $260,000 Richelieu Hardware Canada Ltd. Worker suffers serious injury while attempting to load a 4,000-pound crate of glass onto a truck Failure to ensure that a worker required or permitted to assemble, use, maintain or dismantle rigging was trained in safe rigging practices
ON $220,000 2236376 Ontario Inc. Crane that wasn’t de-energized before servicing tips into the platform of a scissor lift causing 2 workers to fall 21.5 feet, one of whom dies Failure to ensure to ensure that the crane was blocked and prevented from movement during maintenance or troubleshooting
ON $120,000 TMI Contracting and Equipment Rental Ltd. A traffic signalling breakdown results in a worker’s getting A worker was fatally struck by a dump truck at a landfill site Failure to ensure that the signaller communicated with the truck driver via a telecommunication system or, where visual signals were clearly visible to the driver, via prearranged visual signals
ON $110,000 Lactalis Canada Inc. Dairy plant worker suffers serious burns while trying to repair a Cleaning in Place (CIP) pipeline system Failure to provide a worker information, instruction and supervision on the safe lockout/tagout of the CIP pipeline system
ON $110,000 Performance Finishing & Fabrication Inc. Worker gets killed after being hit by a falling metal beam that wasn’t secured to the forklift carrying it Failure to ensure that a metal beam was secured and wouldn’t fall while being transported on a forklift
AB $102,000 Boucher Bros. Lumber Ltd. Worker contacts the blades of a wood planer and suffers serious hand injuries Unspecified but probably failure to ensure the blades were properly guarded
SK $95,000 City of Prince Albert Worker suffers serious injury after falling more than 3 metres while attempting to dislodge a hose nozzle Failure to ensure that workers at risk of falling over 3 metres use fall protection
BC* $24,560 Bluesky Organics Corp WorkSafeBC inspectors discover that company hasn’t implemented ordered safety measures Failure to comply with the terms of an OHS order

* BC OHS fines get reported a month late but are included in the most recent period to ensure continuity and consistency for comparison purposes across all provinces

Source: Bongarde