Cybertech Controls and Electric fined $70K for worker injury

March 26, 2019 – Cybertech Controls and Electric Inc., a systems integrator in Tecumseh, Ontario, has pleaded guilty to an offence involving a worker injury at an industrial facility in Windsor, Ontario and has been fined $70,000 in provincial court.

The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, which is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, the incident took place February 15, 2017. Cybertech was contracted to install new light fixtures and repair existing light fixtures at an industrial facility in Windsor.

The worker tasked with the project was working alone and unsupervised.

The worker used an elevating work platform to access the work area, which was located above the ceiling of the room being worked in.
The room had a suspended-type ceiling fabricated of polystyrene panels and metal frames. The height of the ceiling was approximately 21.5 feet (or 6.5 metres).

The worker exited the elevating lift into the ceiling area. The worker was not protected by fall protection and fell through the ceiling of the room to the concrete floor below.

The worker was found injured on the floor of the room by a worker at the facility. The injured worker sustained critical injuries.

The Ministry of Labour investigation found that the injured worker had not received training on the use of fall protection equipment or working at heights, and had not received training on the use of elevating work platforms.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires an employer to ensure that the measures and procedures required by the act and regulations are carried out at a workplace, and that a worker exposed to the hazard of falling 3 metres or more shall be adequately protected by a fall protection system.

The act also requires an employer to ensure that a worker is provided with information, instruction and supervision to protect the health and safety of the worker.