Workplace injury results in $80K fine for Quebec-based company

Andritz Hydro Canada, of Pointe-Claire, Que., has been fined $80,000 after a worker was struck by a falling sole plate that had been inadequately braced.

The company, a constructor and employer for a project to rehabilitate hydroelectric generators in Iron Bridge, Ont., pleaded guilty in court to failing, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures were carried out at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

What happened

On March 16, 2023, two millwrights were correcting an earlier installation of three metal sole plates to the underside of a stator frame.

To align and position metal sole plates, workers insert a metal key between the top of the sole plate and the bottom of the stator frame. The three metal keys used to align and position these metal sole plates had been inserted incorrectly and needed to be removed and put back into place.

The millwrights began correcting the orientation of the metal keys. On the first sole plate, one of the millwrights, under the direction of the other, began loosening the bolts that held the sole plate to the stator frame. When the bolts were fully removed, the support jack was released and the sole plate tipped inwards and fell out of its pocket, critically injuring one of the millwrights.

A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found Andritz Hydro Canada failed to ensure that the sole plate was adequately braced to prevent any movement that may affect its stability or cause its failure or collapse, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In addition to the $80,000 fine, the court 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.