A Brampton contractor has been fined $110,000 in connection with an incident that led to a worker’s fatal injuries in 2023.

Excavation contractor Frontline Cable and Gas Services pled guilty to a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in a Brampton courtroom. The court also imposed a 25 percent victim fine surcharge as per the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

The incident occurred on February 10, 2023 at a worksite at the intersection of Campkin Street and Mill Street South in Brampton.

On the day of the incident, the company was laying network cables.

Five workers were preparing to perform directional drilling using a Ditch Witch JT9 Drilling Machine.

While the drilling machine was being set up, a worker and a supervisor noticed a hydraulic oil leak.

The supervisor started repairing the leaking valve cylinder from the top of the machine with the worker helping him. The worker then offered to fix the leak as they had been trained.

The supervisor left the worker to complete the repairs and went to check on other workers performing different activities at the project.

The worker started to work under the machine to stop the leak, however, the equipment was not blocked as per the operator's manual to prevent it falling on the ground.

While fixing the hydraulic oil leak, pressure was inadvertently released from the valve cylinder and the machine suddenly lowered, causing a fatal injury to the worker.

Frontline Cable and Gas Services was found to have failed to ensure that the provisions of section 108 of Ontario Regulation 213/91 – specifically that blocking be installed to prevent the movement of a piece of equipment that is being repaired – were complied with at the workplace.