So far, there have been 22 significant OHS fines, i.e., fines of $20,000 or over, reported by Canadian provinces and territories, in 2024, with 11 of them occurring in the period between February 15 and March 15.
OHS Fines of $100,000 or More
There were only 4 fines in the 6 figures during the most recent reporting period, as opposed to 6 during the first 6 weeks of the year, a total of 10 so far. Ontario has generated the most 6-figure fines with 5, including one during the most recent period, followed closely by Alberta with 4. Alberta has also accounted for the 2 biggest OHS fines of the year and 3 of the top 5. New Brunswick is the only other jurisdiction that has reported an OHS fine of $100,000 in 2024.
Top 5 OHS Fines of 2024 (through March 15)
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$350,000 (Alberta)
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$295,000 (Alberta)
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$260,000 (Ontario)
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$200,000 (Ontario)
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$144,000 (Alberta)
Overall OHS Fines
Of the 11 significant OHS fines reported from mid-February to mid-March, 5 came from Ontario. Alberta and Saskatchewan accounted for 2 apiece, while BC and New Brunswick each reported one. Caveat: No jurisdiction issues more OHS penalties than BC which hands out literally dozens of administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) each month. But the vast majority of these AMPs are well below our $20,000 reporting threshold. The other tricky thing is that unlike most of the other jurisdictions which report individual fines soon after they’re imposed, BC updates its AMPs database on a cumulative basis at regular intervals. As a result, some of these fines get listed only after our reporting period for all of Canada has ended. Thus, for example, BC might report an AMP that was imposed on February 7 on March 31, too late for us to count it in the reporting period of mid-February to mid-March. Going forward, we will include any AMPs of $100,000 that were reported late in the subsequent reporting period. Accordingly, a fine that was imposed in February but reported in April will be included in the April count.
OHS Fines Reported from February 14 to March 15, 2024 (over $20,000)
Jurisdiction | Fine | Company | What Happened | Violation(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alberta | $295,000 | Brooks Asphalt & Aggregate Ltd., a subsidiary of Smith Group Holdings Ltd | Worker dies of asphyxiation while cleaning a gravel bin with a running conveyor. | Failure to ensure a worker’s health and safety. |
Ontario | $200,000 | Stelco Inc. | Steel worker found dead apparently suffered fatal injuries while trying to repair a conveyor belt that had slipped off its pulley while the conveyor was still moving. | Failure to ensure that there was a safe method to apply belt dressing while a conveyor was in motion. |
Alberta | $144,000 | Marathon Underground Constructors Corp. | Worker removes plywood board covering a floor opening and falls through the now uncovered opening resulting in serious injuries. | Failure to ensure that a worker couldn’t remove a cover from an open hole in the ground without mechanical assistance. |
New Brunswick | $100,000 | American Iron & Metal Company Inc. | Iron worker killed by a calendar roll device used to finish or smooth sheets of metal, paper, textiles, rubber, plastics and other materials. | Failure to properly notify the worker of the hazards posed by a calendar roll. |
Ontario | $75,000 | Delta Elevator Company Limited | Plant worker suffers serious injuries after falling from a staircase from which workers had removed the metal guardrail to clear room for equipment. | Failure to ensure that guardrails required by the OHS regulations were installed. |
Ontario | $75,000 | H&N Roofing & Sheet Metal Limited | Worker falls 15 feet through an HVAC opening in a roof and suffers serious injuries. | Failure to ensure that the worker: i. had appropriate fall protection; and ii. wore protective headwear. |
Ontario | $75,000 | Coldstream Concrete Limited | Forklift moving down a ramp collides with a front-end loader resulting in critical injuries to the forklift operator. | Failure to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker at a workplace. |
Saskatchewan | $65,000 | WSK Well Service Inc. | Floor hand fractures ribs and punctures a lung as a result of being hit by a rod that the crew was attempting to attach to a drill. | Failure to provide and maintain plant, systems of work and working environments that ensure workers’ health, safety and welfare, resulting in the serious injury of a worker. |
British Columbia | $63,055 | Ucluelet Harbour Seafoods Ltd. | WorkSafeBC inspectors discover multiple OHS violations at frozen seafood processing site. | Failure to ensure that plant’s ammonia monitoring and alarm system were tested at least once a month and calibrated once a year; Failure to inspect compressed air cylinders. |
Ontario | $60,000 | Crystal Fountains Inc. | Worker injured while setting up a milling machine to manufacture fountain nozzles. | Failure to ensure that the interlocks on the safety doors of the milling machine were maintained in good condition. |
Saskatchewan | $50,000 | Holdstock Livestock Ltd. | A charging bull knocks over a worker and causes serious injuries. | Failure to provide and maintain plant, systems of work and working environments that ensure workers’ health, safety and welfare, resulting in the serious injury of a worker. |
Source: Bongarde
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