Ontario Construction News staff writer
WHITBY – A Cambridge, Ont.-based contractor has been fined $80,000 after a worker was injured in a workplace incident in 2023.
Trade-Mark Industrial Inc. pleaded guilty in a Whitby court to a violation of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. The company was also ordered to pay a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge.
The incident happened May 10, 2023, at an industrial site in Whitby, where the company was performing maintenance work.
Court documents show that, days before the incident, a supervisor instructed a worker to install a butterfly valve on a section of horizontal cooling pipe. The pipefitter told a foreman the bolts available on site were not suitable for the job but was instructed to use them temporarily until proper bolts could be obtained.
On the day of the incident, another crew was directed to switch and reposition two pipe skids attached to the cooling pipe. A chain fall was installed to support the north side of the pipe, while the south side remained supported by the incorrect bolts.
When the pipe was lifted slightly to create clearance, the south connection failed and the pipe fell, injuring a worker.
An investigation by the Ministry of Labour found the pipe was not adequately braced to prevent movement that could affect its stability.
Trade-Mark Industrial Inc. was found to have failed to ensure that prescribed measures and procedures were carried out at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and section 31(1)(b) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 (Construction Projects).
