Construction company fined $115,000 after worker’s shock

NAPANEE, Ont. – Lafarge Canada Inc., a supplier of construction materials based in Mississauga, Ont., has been fined $115,000 for its role in a contract worker’s shock injury on March 2, 2016. A court bulletin from the Ontario Ministry of Labour stated that a worker had been cleaning electrostatic precipitators at the corporation’s plant in Bath that day, but the power supply for one of the precipitators had not been de-energized or locked out. The worker opened an access panel and received an electrical shock of about 47,500 volts, which required treatment at a hospital. In the Ontario Court of Justice in Napanee, Lafarge later pleaded guilty to violating section 25(1)(c) of the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, which requires an employer to ensure that the power supply to an electrical installation, equipment or conductor is disconnected, locked out of service and tagged before any work is done on or near live exposed parts. Justice of the Peace Donna I. Doelman imposed the fine on Oct. 12 of this year.

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