SASKATOON – A Winnipeg construction company is apologizing to a subcontractor who was severely hurt after being crushed by a falling railing while on a job site in Saskatoon.
Manshield Construction pleaded guilty to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act on Monday in Saskatoon Provincial Court.
They include failing to clearly mark an area with barriers or warning devices, resulting in injury.
Court heard Craig Faulkner, who was 26 years old when the incident happened on May 17, 2011, was working at a job site on Armistice Way in Saskatoon.
The Crown says another subcontractor with a concrete company hit a railing with a boom, causing the railing to land on Faulkner after falling six floors.
It knocked him unconscious and caused extensive injuries including a collapsed lung, a damaged shoulder, several facial fractures, a broken jaw in three places, a detached retina, facial paralysis and a fractured spine.
Both the Crown and defence agreed that Manshield Construction has a good safety record, and court heard a safety expert was even on site at the time.
Defence lawyer Rich Gabruch said it was “clearly a fluke” that Faulkner was underneath the falling railing, adding another worker who was right beside him did not get hurt.
Even so, Gabruch said his client regrets what happened and is apologetic to both the victim and his coworkers, who he said were “quite rattled” after witnessing the accident.
Judge Sheila Whelan accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence of a $25,000 fine in addition to a victim surcharge of $10,000.
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