Ontario contractor fined $75,000 after worker injured after falling off ladder

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A general contractor in Brockville, Ont., has been fined $75,000 after a worker fell off a ladder while installing siding on a house.

On Aug. 8, 2022, two workers for Richard D. Steele Construction Ltd. were installing exterior siding and trim on the wall of a private dwelling.

A pump jack scaffold system had been set up to allow the workers to perform the work at height, however, it did not span the entire wall being worked on.

One worker climbed an extension ladder that was leaned against the wall in the area not accessible from the scaffold. The worker was using a pneumatic nail gun and started working at a height of more than three metres.

While handling the nail gun the worker leaned over and the extension ladder slipped from the side of the house. The worker fell and suffered a critical injury.

Section 125(1) of Regulation 213/91 mandates that where work cannot be done on or from the ground or from a building or other permanent structure without hazard to workers, a worker shall be provided with a scaffold, a suspended work platform, a boatswain’s chair or a multipoint suspended work platform that meets the requirements of the Regulation.

Following a guilty plea, Richard D. Steele Construction (1979) Ltd. was fined $75,000.

The court also 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.