Home Hardware fined for fall at St. Jacobs warehouse

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Home Hardware Stores Limited has been fined thousands of dollars for a workplace injury at a warehouse in St. Jacobs.

The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development said an employee fell from a ladder while they were working on a water reservoir at a building on Henry Street West on Nov. 3, 2023.

The ministry said the employee was responsible for a fire management system that required them to monitor the water level in a reservoir in the facility’s basement.

Although water pumps in the system ran weekly, neither permanent stairs nor an access ladder were installed. Instead, the employee used an aluminum shelf ladder to get to the top of the reservoir, which was approximately 10 feet above the ground.

While the employee was climbing down, they slipped, fell and were left with critical injuries.

The ministry also said the worker had not received ladder safety training.

After the injury, Home Hardware made employees go through proper ladder training, replaced the aluminum ladder with a rolling staircase, required the use of spotters and moved the reservoir responsibilities to the maintenance team.

Home Hardware has pleaded guilty to failure to ensure fixed stairs or an access ladder were provided where frequent access to elevated equipment was necessary. They were fined $75,000, plus a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge.