Convicted: 2228977 Ontario Inc., operating as R&N Maintenance also known as Rann Maintenance, 8066 Wellington Road 124, RR#1, Guelph, Ontario. The company is in the business of road maintenance.
Location of Incident: Intersection of Danforth Avenue and Logan Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.
Description of Offence: A worker received critical injuries after a kettle with molten asphalt sealant was spilled.
Date of Offence: September 26, 2016.
Date of Conviction: March 1, 2018.
Penalty Imposed:
- Following a guilty plea, Rann Maintenance was fined $70,000 by Justice of the Peace Ruby Wong in Toronto court, 70 Centre Avenue; Crown Counsel Aaron Dewitt.
- 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.
Background:
- The injured worker was a member of a crew performing road maintenance at the intersection of Danforth Avenue and Logan Avenue in Toronto.
- While travelling a short distance between sites, workers were instructed to ride in the back of a truck. The truck also contained a functioning kettle with molten asphalt sealant with a temperature of about 165 degrees Centigrade (about 329 degrees Fahrenheit).
- The truck stopped abruptly and the molten material in the kettle spilled onto one worker, causing serious injuries.
- The Ministry of Labour investigation determined the company failed as an employer to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker.
- This was a violation of Section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
- The company failed to ensure that material or things were transported or stored so that the material or things are carried or moved in such a way and with such precautions and safeguards as will ensure that the transportation or storing of the material or things does not endanger the safety of a worker.
– Ministry of Labour