Workplace Injury Results In $65,000 Fine For Leamington Company
South Essex Fabricating Inc., a fabricator of commercial greenhouse structures and pre-engineered buildings has been fined after a workplace accident in Leamington in 2022.
On November 4th, 2022, three Company workers were repairing a section of damaged stormwater drainage pipe at a worksite. The Company had been contracted to build an addition to a greenhouse that the pipe serviced.
The pipe was located inside a trench. At one end of the trench, the width was just over seven feet, and the depth was just over eight feet. The excavation’s width and depth varied due to the greenhouse’s uneven base and walls.
The distance between the two ends of the pipe was approximately 23 feet. The excavated trench walls were cut vertically with little or no sloping, and no shoring was in place.
A worker entered the trench to repair the pipe when one of the trench walls collapsed. The collapsed portion of the trench made up a significant portion of the 23 feet cleared to repair the pipe. As a result of the collapse, the worker sustained critical injuries.
An investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development found that the Company failed to shore the walls of the trench.
Following a guilty plea, South Essex Fabricating Inc. was fined $65,000. The court also imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
