Contractor fined $150K for injury resulting from rope snapping during Burlington, Ont. bridge work

An Ontario contractor that carries out mainly electrical work has been fined $150,000 for a worker injury during a repair project on the Burlington Canal Vertical Lift Bridge, which straddles Burlington and Hamilton, Ont.

According to the province’s Ministry of Labour, a number of workers from K-Line Maintenance and Construction Ltd. were on-site at the time of the incident. The project involved replacing cabling over the top span of the lift bridge. A tensioning truck was pulling a rope connected to the cable assembly when the rope snapped, flinging the cable over the bridge. It struck several workers, “critically” injuring one.

The company was found to be in violation of the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to “ensure that the equipment, materials and protective devices provided by the employer were maintained in good condition.”

A Burlington judge imposed the $150,000 penalty, plus the standard 25 per cent victim surcharge, on the contractor following the trial.