Delta Elevator Company Limited, a Kitchener, Ont.-based firm known for manufacturing, installing, and maintaining elevating devices, has been fined $75,000 following a workplace incident in which a worker was injured.
The Ontario Court of Justice, London, handed down the conviction on February 29, 2024, after the company pleaded guilty to failing to install a required guardrail, resulting in a worker’s fall.
The incident occurred at a construction site located at 699 Talbot Street, London, Ontario, where Delta Elevator had been contracted to modernize two elevators in a multi-level apartment building. An electrical subcontractor was injured after falling nine feet from a platform, a direct result of the company’s failure to provide a necessary guardrail around the open side of a stairway.
This lapse in safety measures violated section 26.1(1) of the Regulation for Construction Projects, as well as section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which mandates employers to ensure the protection of their workers by installing appropriate safety barriers. The metal guardrail previously in place had been removed by Delta employees to facilitate the movement of equipment, without replacement or adequate temporary measures to prevent falls.
Judge Kristine Diaz imposed the fine with an additional 25% victim fine surcharge, as mandated by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge contributes to a provincial fund designed to support victims of crime.
On the day of the incident, December 15, 2022, the injured worker had been tasked with installing new lighting and other electrical components in the elevator room. Following the installation, the worker was attempting to dispose of cardboard waste by throwing it down to the broiler room floor when the fall occurred, resulting in significant injuries.