Company & Supervisor Fined $130,000 for Worker’s Fatal Fall

Workers were installing two mezzanine structures using heavy metal plates, which were hoisted one at a time to the mezzanine level by a mobile crane operated on the ground. A worker working alone on the platform signaled the crane operator to lower the load. While he was using a pry bar to position the plate, he fell to the ground about 13 feet below; the plate being positioned also fell and struck him. He died from his injuries. The MOL found that no guardrails were present at the edges of the mezzanines or at the edge of the openings on the mezzanine and no anchor points were provided so workers could tie off and be protected from falling. The company and a supervisor pleaded guilty to fall protection violations. The court fined the company $125,000 and the supervisor $5,000 [Oskam Welding (2014) Ltd. and Chad Wheeler, Gov’t. News Release, Match 21, 2016].