Chatham demolition company fined $70K following workplace fatality

An ambulance is shown in a file photo. (CP24)

A Chatham demolition and excavating company has been fined $70,000 after a worker fell to their death in 2021 while on a job site.

According to a Ministry of Labour court bulletin, James Curran Expert Removal and Excavating Limited, “Limited failed to ensure that the worker was adequately protected by a method of fall protection when exposed to a fall of more than three metres, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”

The company pleaded guilty on April 3, 2023 in provincial offences court and was fined. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim surcharge.

The bulletin states that on July 19, 2021, the company was working on demolishing an old building previously used as a grain silo. The building was a two-storey steel framed building with metal cladding. The structural steel skeleton had several different platforms at various heights. The upper-most platform contained tow old hoppers, various piles and walls, all of which needed to be removed.

The worker was on a platform that had holes in the floor and unguarded openings around three sides, about 7.62 meters off the ground at the time of the incident.

The employee was using a torch to cut pieces of structural steel that would then be rigged to a crane to lower the pieces.

While removing an old hopper and making a cut, one half of the hopper dropped suddenly and fell to the platform, causing the worker to fall off the ladder and over the edge of the platform to the ground below.

According to the ministry, the worker was not protected by any method of fall protection suffered fatal injuries.

It was determined the company had failed to ensure that where a worker is exposed to a fall of more than three metres, and it is not feasible to install a guardrail, the worker should be protected by a method of fall protection.