Convicted: Performance Finishing & Fabrication Inc., 8-250 Entreprise Road, Vars, ON, K0A 3H0, a company engaged in custom metal manufacturing.

Location of Workplace: 8-250 Entreprise Road, Vars, ON, K0A 3H0

Description of Offence: Performance Finishing & Fabrication Inc. failed to ensure that a metal beam was secured and would not fall while being transported on a forklift, as required by 45(b)(i) of Regulation 851, a violation of section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Date of Offence: June 1, 2022

Date of Conviction: March 28, 2024

Penalty Imposed:

• Following a guilty plea in provincial offences court in Ottawa, Performance Finishing & Fabrication Inc. was fined $110,000 by Justice of the Peace Karen Baum. Crown Counsel was ­­­­­­­Alicia Gordon-Fagan.
• 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:

• On June 1, 2022, a worker and the president of the comany were working together to place a metal beam (33'7" x 10" x 2.5") beside another metal beam, to manufacture a steel trailer frame for a mobile home.
• The company president was transporting a metal beam on a forklift. The worker was on the ground to steady the beam being lifted.
• The metal beam was not secured to the forklift, and the unsecured metal beam went over the head of the worker before falling off the forklift to the ground, striking the worker and causing fatal injuries.
• By failing to ensure the metal beam would not fall while being transported by a forklift, Performance Finishing & Fabrication Inc. contravened section 45(b)(i) of Regulation 851, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.