Blog Post #143 – Two Ottawa Construction Companies Fined $90,000 Total After Worker Injured

Excerpt from the Government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’

Urbandale Construction Limited, a residential construction company from Ottawa, was fined $40,000 on September 24, 2009, for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after a worker was injured. Laren Holdings Inc., carrying on business as Tony Olsen Enterprises, an Ottawa roofing contractor, was fined $50,000 in relation to the same incident.

On June 20, 2008, Urbandale Construction was building residential townhouses with Tony Olsen Enterprises constructing the roofs. A worker on the roof of one of the townhouses threw a pallet off the roof towards a waste bin on the ground. The pallet hit another worker who was walking between the building and the bin. This second worker suffered injuries to the head, shoulder and neck.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that neither company had provided a safe method of disposing of debris from the roof.
(more…)

Blog Post #142 – Information on Nickel Carbonyl Lacking

Excerpt from the OHS Canada Magazine

Medical professionals and researchers need to pay greater attention to building information on nickel carbonyl and its health effects, a coroner’s jury looking into the death of an Ontario miner 9 years ago has recommended.

Brian Laughlin, 50, was exposed to nickel carbonyl in March 2002 while changing a flange on a storage and distribution system at Vale Inco’s nickel refinery in Sudbury, Ontario.
(more…)

Blog Post #141 – Aviance Forming Ltd. Fined $60,000 After Worker Injured

Excerpt from the Government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’

Aviance Forming Ltd., a formwork company, was fined $60,000 on September 24, 2009, for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after a worker was injured.

On January 4, 2008, the company was assembling, moving and installing wall forms for a condominium on York St in Toronto. Workers were guiding a wall form into place while it hung suspended from a crane. One of the workers tried to nail a piece of timber to the bottom of the wall form. As the hammer hit the nail, one of four A-frames attached to the wall form slid down through the bracket clip holding it in place. The worker fell and suffered a fractured ankle.
(more…)

Blog Post #140 – Vitrerie Lessard Inc. Fined $65,000 After Worker Injured

Excerpt from the Government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’

Vitrerie Lessard Inc., a Quebec manufacturer and installer of windows and other glass and aluminum designs, was fined $65,000 on September 14, 2009, for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after a worker was injured.

On December 11, 2007, workers were installing windows on an apartment building in Ottawa. They were working from a suspended platform just below the second floor. One worker, who was about to step down to the platform from the second floor slab, had a lifeline tied to a nearby window frame. The worker untied the lifeline and it sprang out of grasp. The worker lunged for it and fell through the space between the building and the suspended platform. The worker suffered a broken arm and pelvis.
(more…)