Ontario Construction News staff writer
A St. Catharines roofing contractor has been fined $78,000 following a 2023 workplace incident that left a worker with critical injuries.
PEC Roof Maintenance was sentenced in February after pleading guilty to a violation of Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. The Ontario Court of Justice also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, which is credited to a provincial fund that assists victims of crime.
The incident occurred at a secondary school worksite on Highway 20 in Fonthill, a community south of St. Catharines.
According to the Ministry of Labour, a worker and a supervisor were dispatched to inspect and repair a leak in the school’s flat roof. The pair set up a 32-foot aluminum ladder to access a lower roof, securing the top of the ladder to a vice grip clamp on the roof flashing using a nylon rope. However, the ladder’s base was not secured, and no measures were taken to provide stable footing despite snow and ice in the area.
While the two were on the lower roof, the supervisor directed the worker to retrieve a clamp and rope from their vehicle. As the worker stepped onto the unsecured ladder, it slipped, causing a fall that resulted in critical injuries.
The court found PEC Roof Maintenance liable for the acts and omissions of its supervisor under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
