Roofing contractor, food producer fined a combined $300K for 2021 fatality
A roofing contractor and a food producer have been fined a total of $300,000 for their respective roles in a 2021 incident that led to a worker’s death.
Upfield Canada Inc., which is a Toronto-based producer of plant-based food products, and Provincial Industrial Roofing and Sheet Metal Company Limited, a Concord-based industrial roofing company, have been fined $125,000 and $175,000 respectively after entering guilty pleased in a Brantford courtroom earlier this month.
The incident occurred on April 1, 2021. Upfield Canada was conducting extensive renovations at its commercial property on Craig Street in Brantford. The scope of work included demolition and roof-replacement work. Upfield had contracted Provincial Industrial Roofing and Sheet Metal Company Limited to replace the building’s flat roof.
The roof replacement project required removing the existing flat-roof system, including the pre-manufactured concrete deck and the membrane materials located on top of the deck. To remove the membrane materials, workers used “roof cutters,” which are devices resembling large circular saws mounted to a rolling cart that the operator walks behind. The roof membrane materials were cut into chunks and removed. Then the exposed concrete roof deck was swept and cleared of remaining debris in preparation for its removal.
On the day of the incident, a worker who employed by Provincial Industrial Roofing and Sheet Metal Company Limited was pushing a wheelbarrow of debris towards the disposal chute. The concrete roof deck panel beneath the worker collapsed, causing the worker to fall and be fatally injured.
Upfield Canada was found to have failed, as a constructor, to protect workers from the hazard of falling through the roof, while Provincial Industrial Roofing and Sheet Metal Company Limited was found to have failed as an employer to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring that a worker was protected from the hazard of falling through the roof.
In addition to their respective fines, each company will also pay at a 25-percent victim fine surcharge, the proceeds of which go to supporting victims of crime.