OHS Fines Scorecard for 2024 (August 13 to September 15)

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The 4 week-period between mid-August to mid-September 2024 was the slowest of the year so far for OHS fines, in terms of both fine volume and amounts. In contrast to the immediately preceding period, which saw 14 reported fines of $25,000 or more – including 6 of $100,000 or more – there were only 12 reported major OHS fines during the most recent period. However, 4 of them were 6 figures, which is a relatively high proportion for any reporting period. That brings the reported major fine total for the entire year to 92, with 40 in the 6-figure range. Bottom Line: Nearly 1 in 2 Canadian companies that have been hit with fines in 2024 have had to cut a cheque of at least $100,000.

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

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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
Total	92	40

Source: Bongarde

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6-Figure OHS Fines

The biggest reported OHS fine of the period was $175,000 imposed against a Saskatchewan municipality for failing to protect a worker from exposure to harmful chemicals in a confined space, resulting in a worker’s death in a manhole sewer. This is the first time in 2024 that the largest reported OHS fine for a 4-week period came from a province other than Alberta, BC, or Ontario. Saskatchewan also accounted for one of the other 6-figure fines of the period – $100,000 against a fire-proofing contractor for scaffolding violations resulting in a worker’s nonfatal fall from an elevated work platform. At $167,890, BC handed out the second biggest fine of the period for an incident in which a tower crane contacted high-voltage overhead power lines at a residential construction site. The only other 6-figure fine came from Ontario, a $100,000 fine for a fall protection violation resulting in a construction worker’s death. To put the period into perspective, the big OHS fines handed out from mid-August to mid-September didn’t come even close to approaching the highest fine totals of the year.

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

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	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

Ontario continues to lead the nation for 6-figure OHS fines with 13, but only one of the 8 biggest fines of the year has come from that province. By contrast, Alberta, which has handed out far fewer overall fines, has accounted for 10 6-figure fines, including 1 of the top 5. Next on the list comes BC with 9 reported fines in the 6-figure fine range, including 3 of the 5 highest fines of the year. Saskatchewan has imposed 5 OHS fines in the 6-figures, including the 2 reported during the most recent period. Northwest Territories and New Brunswick are the only other jurisdictions that have reported 6-figure OHS fines in 2024, with 1 apiece.

Overall OHS Fines

As usual, Ontario reported the most OHS fines with 5, including separate fines against the constructor and employer for the same incident in which a section of an unbraced masonry block wall at a school construction site collapsed and injured a pair of workers. Next came BC with 4. Saskatchewan reported 2 OHS fines, both in the 6 figures. The other fine came from New Brunswick, where a lead hand’s fatal scaffold fall resulted in a $30,000 penalty against a residential construction contractor.

Table 3. OHS Fines Reported from August 13, to September 15, 2024* (over $25,000)

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Jurisdiction	Fine	Company	What Happened	Violation(s)
SK	$175,000	Town of Kindersley	Worker is killed after entering a sewer manhole confined space.	Failure to protect a worker from harmful exposure to a hazardous chemical or biological substance resulting in worker’s death.
BC	$167,890	Structural Concrete Forming	Tower crane contacts high-voltage line at residential construction site.	Failure to ensure a worker was informed of existence of the electrical equipment and work procedures to be followed before working near high-voltage electrical equipment, a repeat.
SK	$100,000	Adler Firestopping Ltd.	Worker suffers serious injuries after falling from work platform.	Failure to ensure scaffold is safely designed, constructed, erected, used and maintained, resulting in serious injury to worker.
ON	$100,000	Integrated Solutions Inc.	Worker installing satellite dish falls off the roof and suffers fatal injuries.	Failure to ensure use of fall protection.
BC	$60,421	Roofing Ltd./Proline Gutters	WorkSafeBC inspectors spot 3 workers, including a supervisor, near the leading edge of a roof wearing fall protection harnesses not tied off to a lifeline.	Failure to: Ensure use of fall protection; and Provide workers with necessary safety information, instruction, training, and supervision
BC	$59,416	Pacific Salmon Industries Inc./Scanner Enterprises	Worker removing packing labels from cardboard totes arranged in rows outside a thawing room steps into the narrow aisle between the rows and is hit by a forklift going in reverse, resulting in serious injuries.	Failure to ensure the work area was arranged to allow the safe movement of people, equipment, and materials.
ON	$55,000	Gary D. Robinson Contracting Ltd.	Worker walking along a stack of trusses being stacked on a trailer jumps off the trailer when the stack shifts and suffers critical injury.	Failure to ensure that steel trusses were transported, placed, or stored so as not to tip, collapse, or fall.
ON	$55,000	Claridge Homes Inc.	Construction worker is injured by a swinging peri box that was rigged to a tower crane.	Failure to use guide ropes or tag lines to prevent rotation or uncontrolled motion of a load being hoisted by a crane or other hoisting device.
BC	$42,553	G.P. Sandher Holdings Ltd.	WorkSafeBC inspectors visiting a fruit tree orchard spot a vehicle being used to transport workers with broken or non-operational seat belts, unsecured tools, and re-purposed pesticide and fertilizer containers.	Failure to: Ensure vehicles used to transport workers are safely designed, maintained, and operated; and Provide workers necessary safety information, instruction, training, and supervision
NB	$30,000	New View Design by Laurie Cole Inc.	Project lead at a residential construction site is killed in 28-foot fall from an icy scaffold.	Failure to provide instruction necessary to ensure a worker’s safety.

* 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

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