Barrie, ON -- Western Mechanical Electrical Millwright Services Ltd. was fined $55,000 on January 19, 2010, for a violation of Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) that caused an injury to a worker.
On April 11, 2007, an employee at the company's Barrie facility was repositioning a beam on two sawhorses in order to weld it. As the worker moved the beam, the sawhorses came out from under it. One of the sawhorses hit the worker in the leg, breaking it.
Western Mechanical Electrical Millwright Services pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure that the beam was moved in a way that would not endanger the safety of the worker.
The fine was imposed by Justice C. Roland Harris. In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25% 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.