THUNDER BAY – The operator of a local Canadian Tire has been fined $60,000 for a workplace safety violation that resulted in a worker falling more than eight feet from a walkway.
The violation occurred in June of 2019, when a worker fell through a gap in a guardrail while loading products onto a forklift at the Canadian Tire on Fort William Road in Thunder Bay.
Operator Robert C. Nearing Holdings Inc. faced a $60,000 fine after pleading guilty at provincial offenses court in Thunder Bay.
Justice of the Peace J.A. Barnard Caron also imposed a 25 per cent victim surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act when convicting the company Friday, the province announced.
A worker was helping to move barbeques from a walkway allowing access to a second level of “sea can” storage containers on June 11, 2019 when the incident occurred.
While loading barbeques onto a forklift through a gap in a chain that ran along the outside of the walkway, the worker accidentally stepped off the walkway with one foot, falling more than eight and a half feet to the ground.
An inspection by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development found there should have been a guardrail to comply with sections of Ontario’s Regulation for Industrial Establishments (Regulation 851).
The business has since installed a compliant guardrail and instituted new procedures for working on the walkway while the guardrail is removed for forklift access.
