Bolton formwork company fined $60,000 for 2021 incident
A Bolton-based formwork company has been fined $60,000 for its role in a 2021 incident that led to injuries to two workers.
Aluma Systems Inc. pled guilty to violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and its construction regulations in a Newmarket courtroom. The company will also pay a 25 percent victim surcharge.
On May 6, 2021, 10 concrete finishing workers were pouring concrete from a pump truck onto a defined pour area on the third level of a high-rise building when the shoring under the pour area collapsed.
The workers escaped by running toward the edge of the pour area as the floor beneath them was collapsing. Two were injured.
The workers had used drawings designed by Aluma Systems to build the shoring.
An investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development found that at the area of the collapse, the design of the shoring was capable of withstanding all loads and forces likely to be applied. However, the design of the re-shoring at and around the area of collapse was deficient and was a probable cause of the collapse.
Aluma Systems Inc. did not provide re-shoring drawings for the area of the collapse before the accident.
By failing to communicate clearly to its customer the necessity of appropriate re-shoring design and construction at and around the area of collapse, Aluma Systems Inc. was found to have violated a section of Ontario Regulation 213/90 and a section of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.