Company Fined $85,000 After Worker Killed in Brampton

A company has been fined $85,000 after a worker was killed in a workplace accident in Brampton.

A company has been fined $85,000 after a worker was killed in a workplace accident in Brampton.

Cobra Float Services Inc., a Vaughan-based company specializing in the transportation of heavy equipment, was sentenced and fined on Tuesday, March 19.

The fatal incident occurred on May 25, 2013 at a construction site near James Potter Road, west of Creditview.

According to an Ontario news release, the worker was off-loading a curb machine from a float trailer (used to move heavy equipment).

As the machine was being loaded off, one of its wheels dropped into a gap between the float trailer’s ramps, causing the machine to tip over and crush the worker.

“The employer ought to have provided a trailer with a continuous ramp across the whole width of the trailer, or provided and ensured that the worker used a portable ramp that could be secured in place between the trailer ramps,” the report reads.

“The company failed to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 37(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 (the Construction Projects Regulation) were carried out in the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”

In addition to the $85,000 fine, 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.