An elevator company based out of Kitchener, Ont., has been fined $75,000 for an accident in which a worker fell nine feet (2.7 metres) off a platform after staff removed a guardrail.
According to the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, Delta Elevator Company Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing to provide a guardrail. It was convicted under the Occupational Health and Safety Act on Feb. 29 in connection with the accident, which happened Dec. 15, 2022.
The ministry said the elevator company was hired to “modernize” two elevators at 699 Talbot Street in London, Ont., a multi-level apartment building.
Workers with the company removed a metal guardrail at the top of a staircase overlooking the building’s boiler room in order to “create room to move equipment,” the ministry said.
A sub-contractor was hired to do electrical work. After installing new lighting and other electrical equipment in the elevator room, the subcontractor began cleaning up the work area and throwing cardboard waste down to the boiler room floor. While throwing the cardboard, the subcontractor fell nine feet to the floor, sustaining undisclosed injuries.
In addition to the fine, Delta Elevator Company Ltd. faces a 25 per cent victim’s surcharge.