Roofing company in Kitchener, Ont., fined nearly $140,000 after worker killed in fall

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A roofing company based in Kitchener, Ont., has been fined $110,000 — plus a victim fine surcharge — after a contractor who wasn’t wearing fall protection was killed while installing a roof on a private residence.

The incident happened on April 6, 2022, while the man was working on a metal roof installation being done by Matpol Metal Roof Manufacturing,

Matpol was the constructor on a project installing a metal roof on a single-family home in London, Ont. Matpol subcontracted another roofing company to complete this work.

On April 6, 2022, a worker from the subcontracted company was installing metal sheathing on the second-storey roof of the building, when they fell to the ground and suffered fatal injuries.

A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found that while fall protection equipment was available on site for use at the time of the incident, the worker was not wearing fall protection when they fell from the roof.

Matpol Metal Roof Manufacturing Ltd. failed, as a constructor, to ensure that where a worker is exposed to a fall of more than three metres, and it is not practicable to install a guardrail, the worker shall be adequately protected by a method of fall protection, as required by section 26.1(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 and contrary to section 23(1)(b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Following a guilty plea in court, Matpol was fined $110,000. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act., bringing the total to $137,500. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.