Worker’s Fatal Fall from Ladder Costs Contractor $60,000

Workers were dismantling and removing trench boxes from a 20-foot deep excavation site at a construction project. Two workers were removing pins that connected two trench boxes stacked one on top of the other, with one worker standing on a ladder to reach the pin. After the last pin was removed, the upper trench box shifted and the worker on the ladder fell. He later died from head injuries. The MOL investigation found that the upper trench box wasn’t stabilized during the pin removal and the workers hadn’t received any training on how to safely remove trench boxes from an excavation site. So the contractor pleaded guilty to a safety offence and was fined $60,000 [M. Fuda Contracting Inc., Govt. News Release, Sept. 20, 2016].