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OHS Fines Scorecard for 2024 (September 16 to October 15)

For the second month in a row, the volume of OHS fines between mid-September to mid-October was abnormally low, with only 9 fines of $25,000 or more reported, the smallest number of any 4-week period of 2024 so far. One major reason for this dip is that BC, which usually generates at least 2 or 3 major fines per month, hadn’t yet reported its penalties total for the month at the time we went to the press. Accordingly, fine numbers will likely rebound next month once WorkSafeBC does release its latest results.

In addition, fine amounts went a long way toward offsetting the drop in fine totals, with 4 of this month’s reported fines in the 6-figure range.

Bottom Line: Nearly 45% of all reported OHS fines during the year have been for $100,000 or more.

Table 1. OHS Fines in 2024 At A Glance (through October 14)

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
Mid-May to mid-June 12 5
Mid-June to mid-July 10 4
Mid-July to mid-August 14 6
Mid-August to mid-September 12 4
Mid-September to mid-October 9 4
Total 101 44

6-Figure OHS Fines

Alberta imposed the highest OHS fine of the period. On the receiving end was an iron fabrication company for a fatal incident in which a heavy panel being lifted by a forklift fell from the forks and crashed onto a worker. The $360,000 fine, while more than double the second largest fine of the period, wasn’t large enough to crack the Top 5 OHS fines for the entire year, trailing the fifth place fine by over $31,000.

Ontario accounted for 2 of the other 4 6-figure fines during the period, including a $160,000 fine against a waste disposal company for a fatality to a worker operating a truck that tipped over into a ditch. The company apparently had an extensive safety training program, including for new drivers operating the waste management truck. The problem is that the company couldn’t generate documentation showing that it properly verified that trainees understood and were capable of applying their training on the job. The other 6-figure fine during the period was reported by the Northwest Territories, a $125,000 penalty against a diamond mine company for not implementing safe work procedures for cleaning a mixing machine, resulting in serious hand injuries to a worker while performing the operation.

Table 2. Top 5 OHS Fines of 2024 At A Glance (through October 14)

Fine Amount Province Type of Company/Incident
1 $783,068 British Columbia Smelting facility/Fatal fall during overhead crane inspection
2 $710,488 British Columbia Shipyard/Confined space asphyxiation
3 $600,000 Ontario Truck manufacturer/Explosion during handling of flammables resulting in 6 fatalities
4 $420,000 Alberta Contractor/Powered mobile equipment fatality
5 $391,534 British Columbia Lumber company/Repeat violations not connected to a specific incident

Source: Bongarde

Looking at the year as a whole, Ontario continues to lead the nation for 6-figure OHS fines with 15; but only one of the 8 biggest fines of the year has come from that province. While Alberta has imposed far fewer overall fines, 11 of them have been for $100,000 or more, including the fourth highest OHS fine of 2024. BC has accounted for 9 reported fines in the 6-figure fine range, including 3 of the year’s top 5. Next comes Saskatchewan with 5 reported OHS fines of $100,000, followed by Northwest Territories with 2. New Brunswick is the only other jurisdiction that has reported a 6-figure OHS fine in 2024.

Overall OHS Fines

In terms of fine volume, Ontario and Alberta were the leaders with 3 apiece. Saskatchewan accounted for 2 of this month’s reported 9 fines and Northwest Territories accounted for one. But keep in mind that not all jurisdictions report the individual OHS fines they hand out the way that Alberta, BC, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and the 3 territories do. Moreover, as noted above, this month’s Scorecard doesn’t include BC since WorkSafeBC hadn’t yet updated its OHS penalties reports at the time we went to press.

Table 3. OHS Fines Reported from September 15, to October 15, 2024* (over $25,000)

Jurisdiction Fine Company What Happened Violation(s)
AB $360,000 HTK Iron Works Ltd. Fabricated windbreak panel falls from a moving forklift and kills a metal shop worker. Failure to ensure the health and safety of a worker.
ON $160,000 Norfolk Disposal Services Limited Waste collection truck tips over and falls into a ditch, killing the driver who was operating the vehicle from the right side. Failure to provide information, instruction and supervision to ensure workers were able to operate the vehicle safely.
ON $125,000 Gwillimdale Farms Ltd. Trainee at potato farm killed while lubricating conveyor while it’s still running. Failure to ensure that the conveyor was equipped with a guard to prevent access to the pinch point.
NWT $125,000 Diavik Diamond Mine Inc. Mine worker suffers a serious hand injury while using a hose to clean a Rockfill Mixer machine. Failure to implement safe work practices for performing the operation.
AB $90,000 O'Reilly Oilfield Services Ltd. Worker using a portable flare stack to burn off excess gas suffers serious burns in a fire caused when a disruption in the line sends fluid into it. Failure, as a supervisor, to adequately control use of a portable flare knock-out and associated equipment.
SK $70,000 Denovo Window & Door Inc. Worker falls off scaffold and suffers serious injuries. Failure to ensure that workers use a fall protection system resulting in the serious injury of a worker.
ON $68,000 Innovative Metal Works Inc. Worker is injured after a nylon hoisting strap holding a lateral assembly beam to a crane breaks, causing the beam to swing and fall. Failure to take steps to protect the nylon hoisting strap from being cut.
SK $55,000 Summit Wireline Inc. Worker suffers serious injury when a disc is ejected from a pressurized setting tool. Failure to ensure that work was sufficiently and competently supervised.
AB $30,000 Jeffrey Gross Worker falls 4.5 metres from a roof through an opening that was created when plywood covering the opening was removed. Failure, as a supervisor, to ensure that a temporary cover used to protect an opening or hole, had a warning or marking clearly indicating the nature of the hazard posted near or fixed to the cover.

* 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