Company Fined $60,000 After Worker Fell from Balcony in Oakville

Published July 5, 2019 at 10:23 pm

An Ottawa-based construction company has recently been fined after a worker was injured in Oakville on February 21, 2018.

An Ottawa-based construction company has recently been fined after a worker was injured in Oakville on February 21, 2018.

At a townhouse project near the intersection of Dundas Street East and Trafalgar Road, a worker was standing on a ladder and installing aluminum siding on the second-floor balcony of one of the units under construction.

While descending the ladder, the worker grabbed on to a two-by-four piece of wood that was installed horizontally at the open edge of the balcony. However, it gave way and the worker fell over the side of the balcony, landing on the ground 11 feet below.

Investigation by the Ministry of Labour revealed that the 2×4 was not nailed or otherwise securely fastened in place.

“Guardrails on the balcony were installed with a ‘compression fit’ approach using a 2×4 wedged between two brick posts; this was done to avoid damaging the brick columns,” according to the court bulletin.

“There was no engineering for the design of the rails to assess what load they could support. There was no other guardrail in place to protect workers from falling.”

Following a guilty plea, Ottawa-based construction company MC Oakvillage GP Inc. was convicted on July 3, 2019 and hit with a fine of $60,000.

Burlington provincial court also imposed a 25-per-cent 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.

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