Powerline Plus Limited, an overhead and underground utility contractor, pleaded guilty and was fined $80,000 following the injury of two workers who suffered burns while working on electrical equipment that had not been properly shut off, according to an Ontario Ministry of Labour court bulletin.
The court bulletin states that Powerline Plus was under contract to Toronto Hydro at the time of the incident, which took place at a condominium building at 3900 Yonge St. on Feb. 18, 2014. Workers were there to continue with ongoing electrical work. Two workers were instructed by their supervisor to enter an electrical vault to prepare the termination of conductors that had been pulled into the vault.
Inside the vault was various electrical equipment. One of the switch gears had its handle in an open position with a blue tag to indicate that work was being conducted on the unit, but the workers were not aware that it remained energized. Neither worker thought the panel was live, so they didn’t test to see if it was energized, nor did they use rubber gloves or barriers.
After they began work, an arc flash occurred within the switch gear unit and both workers received second- and first-degree burns. One of the workers also sustained third-degree burns.
Ontario Regulation 213/91 (the Construction Projects Regulation), section 190(4), deems that “if work is to be done on or near energized exposed parts of electrical equipment or of an electrical installation or conductor… the power supply to the electrical equipment… shall be disconnected, locked out of service and tagged… before the work begins, and kept disconnected, locked out of service and tagged while the work continues.”
As per the Occupational Health and Safety Act, Section 25 (1)(c), Powerline Plus should have ensured that the measures and procedures prescribed by law were carried out, which the court bulletin states it failed to do. As a result, Justice of the Peace Lena Crawford imposed a fine of $80,000 on Sept. 10, 2015.
Additionally, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as per the Provincial Offences Act, which will go toward a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
