A construction foreman working for a road contractor has been fined $20,000 in connection with a 2022 incident that led to a fatal injury.

Alfredo Piluso, who was working for Road-Ex Contracting Ltd. at the time, pled guilty to a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in a provincial courtroom. The court also imposed a 25 percent 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.

The incident occurred on a construction project on Abbotside Way in Caledon on June 1, 2022.

Workers from Road-Ex and a subcontractor were constructing a new driveway as part of a commercial building project.

Piluso was supervising the workers and acting as the signaler for a rock truck that was operated by a worker employed by the subcontractor.

The rock truck was being filled with soil by an adjacent excavator. When the truck was full, the operator went back to the rock truck to move the load of soil.

Piluso signalled the operator to haul the load and then turned away from signalling the rock truck to take measurements of the soil grade where the excavator was actively digging.

The operator of the rock truck did not see a worker standing in the intended path of travel due to an obstructed view.

Piluso turned his attention back to the rock truck when he heard its air brake release, but it was too late to signal the operator to stop the rock truck, which fatally injured the worker.

By performing other work while acting as a signaller, Piluso was found to have failed, as a worker, to work in compliance with sections 104(3) and 106(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/91, contrary to section 28(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.