Conditions leading to accident were unexpected: Court
An Ontario court has overturned an employer’s health and safety conviction for an accident where a demolition worker was seriously injured by a falling piece of duct work.
Simcoe, Ont.-based Rassaun Steel and Manufacturing Co. had a contract to remove equipment — which the company had originally installed a couple of years earlier — from a non-operational foundry in Woodstock, Ont., in 2006. On Sept. 10, 2006, several employees were removing fans, conveyors, shaker cleaners and other pieces of equipment and preparing them for transport. The equipment was connected by a system of duct work that was attached to the fan assembly and weighed about 2,000 pounds. As it turned out, there was also a buildup of sand inside the ducts that contributed to their weight and instability. The workers didn’t inspect the welds of the equipment and ducts because it would have been a long process that would have taken years.
The duct work was supported at three points — a clamp fixed to the ceiling, a brace connected to a column and a vertical cable. At one point, while the equipment was being removed, the duct work shifted so the vertical cable wasn’t supporting it. One employee walked under the duct at the same time as another was unbolting the duct end that connected to the fan assembly. The duct collapsed and fell onto the walking employee, fracturing his skull, pelvis scapula, several ribs and thumb. The employee also had a collapsed lung and a torn aorta.
Rassaun was charged under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act with failing, as an employer, to take every precaution reasonable to protect its workers. The charges stemmed out of the allegation that the company didn’t properly ensure the overhead duct system was adequately supported while the workers dismantled or demolished it.
In 2008, Rassaun was convicted by a Justice of the Peace, which the company appealed. The conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered to take place in 2011 on the original charge and another charge that Rassaun failed to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed by health and safety regulations were carried out. The company was convicted once again on the original charge and acquitted on the second charge. Rassaun appealed the second conviction on the ground that there was no “specific finding of fact” on what it did wrong. The Crown argued Rassaun had failed to establish due diligence on its part to prevent the accident.
The Ontario Court of Justice heard the appeal and found the buildup of sand inside the ducts could not have been expected, as it wasn’t something that normally occurred. It was also not reasonable to inspect the welds due to the time it would have required. Since the duct collapse was caused by the sand buildup and poor welds, it wasn’t a foreseeable accident that could have been planned for, said the court. Also, there was no evidence additional training for the workers would have done anything towards preventing the accident.
