Excavator incident leads to fine for Goodwood company
A general contractor based out of Goodwood Ontario has been fined for its role in an incident that led to injuries to a worker.
Trisan General Contractors Inc., which provides high rise building restoration, demolition and other construction related services, entered a guilty plea in Toronto court. The company has been fined $55,000 and will pay an additional 25-percent surcharge that will be credited to a special fund to assist victims of crime.
The incident occurred on January 29, 2020 at a worksite in Etobicoke. A worker was critically injured while working on an excavator at Trisan’s workplace.
The worker was asked by a co-worker to help install a grapple attachment to the boom of an excavator.
A grapple attachment is attached to a boom of an excavator and consists of two jaws which open and close to grab, collect, lift and move material. Once the upper jaw of the grapple was secured to the boom, the remaining task was to attach the position arm of the boom to the lower jaw. This required aligning the mounting hole on the position arm with the mating hole on the lower jaw and then inserting a connecting pin through the holes.
The worker was attempting to set the position arm to the lower jaw of the excavator. The boom of the excavator suddenly dropped and caused the position arm to critically injure the worker.
A Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development investigation revealed that the process used by the injured worker and the co-worker made it possible for the worker to be exposed to a crushing hazard.
Trisan was found to have failed to comply with section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.