Scorecard of OHS Fines for Failing to Report Incidents and Injuries

Violating OHS accident reporting rules can set your company back tens of thousands of dollars.

OHS laws require employers to report serious workplace accidents, injuries and illnesses to the government. Not filing a proper accident report can expose the company and its officials to the risk of prosecution and fines. Here are some examples of companies that learned this lesson the hard way:

• $43,750 (total fine for 2 OHS violations): Worker suffers serious finger injuries after reaching into fully energized machine to clear paper jam and manufacturer didn’t notify Manitoba WSH Branch until the next day [Advance Paper Box Ltd., March 12, 2019];
• $20,000: Ontario restaurant owner didn’t report broken leg suffered by a waitress to MOL [ v. Famz Foods Ltd., Govt. Press Release, May 1, 1998];
• $14,286: Saskatchewan farm operator didn’t report hospitalization of a worker with a machine injury [ Hauesler Farms Inc., Govt. Press Release, December 22, 2020];
• $10,075: Alberta company waited 2 days to notify Manitoba WSH Branch of worker’s injuries in an acetylene torch explosion [316291 Alberta Ltd. Operating as Western Archrib, March 15, 2018]; and
• $2,100: Saskatchewan company didn’t report hospitalization of worker injured in ladder fall within 72 hours [Alford Floors & Interiors (1967) Ltd., 2017].