Stouffville company fined $100,000 after worker injured on Burlington Canal Lift Bridge
Published March 14, 2023 at 6:19 pm
Almost seven years after a worker on the Burlington Canal Lift Bridge was critically injured, a Stouffville company has been fined $100,000 for its role in the incident.
According to the Ontario government, K-Line Maintenance and Construction Ltd. have been convicted of failing to ensure that proper measures and procedures were carried out in accordance with any operating manuals issued by equipment manufacturers.
The company pleaded guilty in the Burlington Provincial Offices Court earlier this year.
As well as being fined $100,000, the company also has to pay a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge
A statement issued by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development says the worker sustained life-threatening injuries when a rope that was attached to a machine pulling an aerial cable over the span of the bridge broke. When this happened the sudden release of tension caused the cable to snap back over the span striking the worker.
The incident took place in July 2016 on the Burlington Canal Lift Bridge. The worker sustained critical injuries. An update on his condition was not provided.
Videos
“On the day of the incident, a site supervisor instructed workers to vary from the standard operating procedure used for the pull without seeking approval from the company,” the statement reads. “This variance resulted in a worker being required to stand in a dangerous area for longer than necessary under the standard operating procedure. Contrary to the rope manufacturer’s manual, the site supervisor did not instruct the workers to increase the safety factor of the rope when they were exposed to the hazard in question (for example, by using a stronger pull rope), nor did the supervisor take other steps to protect the workers in the event of an unanticipated rope failure.”
The Burlington Canal Lift Bridge allows vessels to enter and exit from Hamilton Harbour into Lake Ontario. The bridge does not lift during the winter months and is scheduled to reopen next week.
insauga's Editorial Standards and Policies advertising