Supervisor fined $20,000 in death of worker who was operating EWP alone

A supervisor for a refrigeration company has been fined $20,000 after a worker was killed in Ontario.

L.Z. Refrigeration Inc. was hired on March 5, 2020, as a subcontractor to install refrigeration panels for a walk-in, cold storage room at a workplace in Scarborough, Ont.

Yuqin Liu was a director and a supervisor of L.Z. Refrigeration Inc. On March 13, 2020, at about 1 p.m., the worker was operating an elevated work platform (EWP) by himself.

At some point, the worker activated the EWP joystick for controlling elevation. The platform elevated and as the EWP continued to rise, the worker became trapped between an overhead beam used to support electrical wires and the elevating platform’s guardrail near the control box suffering crushing injuries.

The worker was unable to free himself and succumbed to his injuries.

Liu failed as a supervisor to ensure that the worker operated the EWP as required by the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Specifically, he failed to ensure the worker was provided with oral and written instructions or training on the operation of an EWP which includes instructions with respect to the owner’s manual.

Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court in Toronto, Liu was fined $20,000. 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.