Saskatoon construction company fined after worker fell two floors off ladder

A Saskatoon construction company was hit with an $8,000 fine earlier this month after pleading guilty to a safety violation involving a worker who was seriously injured on the job.

OJ’s Home Solutions Inc. pleaded guilty on June 2 for failing to ensure a portable ladder was set up appropriately, extending at least one metre above a platform, roof or other landing, the Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety said in a news release Monday.

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A company employee was seriously injured two years earlier while working in a new home construction site in Saskatoon.

According to the ministry, the worker fell from the second floor to the basement through an open stairwell.

OJ’s Home Solutions pleaded guilty to the violation in provincial court and was issued a fine of $5,714.29, and a victim fine surcharge of $2,285.71. A second charge against the company was stayed.

The Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety uses education, intervention and enforcement to try to eliminate workplace injuries and illnesses.