Charged and Convicted

From the legal files, we have a recent conviction and some new charges:

Convicted

October 2011 – An Employer and supervisor pleaded guilty to a charge under section 228(1)(a) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 resulting in fines of $20,000 and $2,500 respectively.  This was the result of an incident investigation from April 2010 where workers hit a 1 ¼” natural gas line while excavating at a residence in St. Catharines.  It was determined that locates were not performed prior to beginning the excavation.

May 2011 – Two employers on the same project plead guilty to charges under section 228(1)(a) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 and received fines of $6500 and $20,000.  This was the result of an incident investigation from August of 2008 where a gas line was cut during and excavation for an electrical duct at an institutional project in Milton.

Charged

October 2011 – A worker was issued a summons – issued under section 228(1)(b) of O. Reg. 213/91 (a section related to utility locates).  We will stay tuned to see if this worker is convicted.

Follow up

A follow up to our article regarding private locates and the explosion that killed one person near Owen Sound – In reviewing Ministry of Labour Court Bulletins, we came across the guilty plea of the construction company with a an imposed fine of $225,000.  The press release can be found by clicking press release.  As a reminder, this incident involved a house where private locates had not been completed.  More information can be found in our Feature Article on private locates at houses in the utility locate section of our articles.

Ministry of Labour Court Bulletins can be found by clicking Court Bulletins.

Information courtesy Ontario Ministry of Labour

$180,000 For Locate Problem

This item is a follow up to our feature article in the January 2010 newsletter (still available on our website in the Utility Locate section).  Our article was focused on the importance of also having private locates, in addition to 1Call.  The article featured some incidents which highlighted the need for private locates at all sites, including residential properties.  The Ministry of Labour released an article in OHS Canada Magazine on November 2 related to one of the incidents we cited, indicating that the company was convicted and fined $180,000 (plus 25% victim surcharge) for charges related to not having locates.  In a separate conviction for the same incident, the supervisor was personally fined $12,000.  The mistake of not having a private locator at a site has not only cost a life, but also some very significant fines.  Please read the article by clicking this link.