A Leamington-based company has been fined $65,000 by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development following a workplace injury.
According to the ministry, on November 4, 2022, South Essex Fabricating Inc. failed to shore the walls of a trench they were building as required under a section of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
On the day of the incident, three Company workers were repairing a section of damaged stormwater drainage pipe at a worksite, as the company had been contracted to build an addition to a greenhouse that the pipe serviced.
The pipe was located inside a trench.
At one end of the trench, the width was just over seven feet, with a depth of just over eight feet. The width and depth of the excavation varied due to the uneven base and walls of the greenhouse, according to the ministry.
The distance between the two ends of the pipe was approximately 23 feet.
The excavated walls of the trench were cut vertically with little or no sloping, and no shoring was in place.
A worker entered the trench to repair the pipe when one of the trench walls collapsed, the collapsed portion of the trench made up a significant portion of the 23 feet cleared to repair the pipe.
As a result of the collapse, the worker sustained critical injuries.
An investigation by the ministry found that the company failed to shore the walls of the trench.
Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court in Windsor, South Essex Fabricating Inc. was fined and the court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.