Ottawa, ON – Deep Foundations Ltd., a Gormley, ON, construction company, was fined $90,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a worker was critically injured.
On October 28, 2009, workers from the company were at a construction project at Woodroffe Rd. and Baseline Rd. in Ottawa. They were vibrating large steel beams into the ground to be used as piles to support the soil during construction. Four beams, or piles, had been welded onto a frame before the workers began setting them into the ground. Workers were vibrating one of the piles into place when another came loose from its welding. The pile fell and struck a worker, causing serious injuries.
Deep Foundations Ltd. was found guilty of failing to take the reasonable precaution of either:
- driving one pile at a time without having any others welded during the driving process, or
- having a professional engineer provide requirements for welding when one or more pile is welded while another is being driven.
The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Brian Mackey. In addition to the fine, the court 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.