Northern Ont. construction company fined $50K after worker critically injured

The Cochrane District Court House in Cochrane, Ont., on August 9, 2017. (File photo/Flickr/cmh2315fl)

A Hearst-based construction company has been fined $50,000 after a worker suffered a critical injury at its Driftwood Quarry due to inadequate machine guarding.

C. Villeneuve Construction Co. Ltd. pleaded guilty in Provincial Offences Court in Cochrane, Ont., on Feb. 4 to violating Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. The conviction relates to a Sept. 12, 2023, incident where a worker was injured while cleaning near a screen box at the quarry.

According to the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, the worker was attempting to step over a moving conveyor when the injury occurred. The screen box had been locked out and de-energized, but the feed conveyor remained operational.

“The feed conveyor was not adequately guarded,” the ministry stated in its court bulletin, noting workers had access to the drive pulley while on the catwalk.

Justice of the Peace Estelle Thérese Bérubé imposed the fine, along with a 25 per cent victim surcharge, which goes toward a provincial fund for crime victims. Crown Counsel Alicia Gordon-Fagan prosecuted the case.

The company‘s conviction was registered under Section 196(3.1) of Regulation 854 (Mines and Mining Plants) for failing to ensure proper machine guarding.

“Workers must be protected from moving equipment,” the ministry emphasized in its findings.