Impex Granite and Marble fined after 2007 death of employee

A Concord company has been hit with a $70,000 fine in connection with the 2007 death of an employee.

On June 26 in the Ontario Court of Justice, Impex Granite and Marble was convicted of a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The company, an importer and distributor of granite and marble, had pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the granite was transported, placed and stored so it would not tip, collapse or fall, and could be removed or withdrawn without endangering the safety of workers.

The employee died as a result of fatal crushing injuries suffered in a May 24, 2007 accident.

Workers were unloading bundles of 10 slabs of granite — each slab weighing between 226 and 454 kilograms — from a container when one of the wooden braces holding the bundles together broke. Four bundles tipped sideways, pinning a worker to the side of the container.

There was nothing to stop the granite from tipping onto a worker once the braces were cut, a subsequent Labour Ministry investigation discovered.

The court imposed a 25 percent victim fine surcharge on top of the $70,000 penalty.

Under the Provincial Offences Act, the surcharge is deposited in a provincial fund meant to assist victims of crime.

Vaughan Today
In print: July 3, 2009
Online: July 6, 2009 [link]