Nova Scotia company fined $10,000 for workplace accident that saw forklift mast fall on employee, crushing his chest

'There's a heartfelt desire for healing for all of those involved,' said lawyer for Hurricane Industrial Equipment Ltd.

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ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — A Nova Scotia-based industrial equipment dealership has been fined $10,000 for an accident that saw a forklift mast fall on a service technician working in Conception Bay South, pinning him underneath.

The man, who suffered a partial hand amputation and a crushed chest, had not wanted to see anyone charged in relation to the incident and was grateful to the workers who had saved his life, prosecutor Amber Haighway said in provincial court in St. John's Monday.

The Hurricane Industrial Equipment Ltd. employee was performing maintenance repairs to a 15,000-pound forklift at a Bluewater Agencies Ltd. property in Chamberlains in July 2020, when the forklift mast fell on him.

Bluewater employees heard the crash and attempted to use a small forklift to free the employee – who was choking due to the weight on his chest — to no avail. They eventually used a bigger piece of equipment to hoist the mast enough to slide the technician out from under it and gave him first aid until emergency services arrived.

A bottle jack used by the employee failed testing conducted as part of a subsequent independent examination, which revealed the jack had not been fitted with a device to prevent collapse in the event of loss of hydraulic pressure.

"On the date of the incident, the jack was not sufficient to support the equipment that (the employee) was working on. Secondary blocking was not used to support the equipment," said defence lawyer Greg Anthony.

Hurricane Industrial's policy requires employees to inspect a jack for physical deficiencies prior to using it and remove it from service if any are found. There was no evidence whether the technician had performed an inspection on the day in question.

Hurricane Industrial pleaded guilty to two violations of the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act, one for failing to provide and maintain a safe workplace and necessary equipment, and another for unlawfully using a hydraulic jack for blocking an elevated part of mobile equipment, and the Crown withdrew six other charges. Bluewater Agencies had also originally been charged, but the Crown withdrew those charges last January.

Haighway and Anthony submitted a joint recommendation to Judge Jennifer Mercer for a $10,000 fine for Hurricane Industrial, which had never been charged under the OHS Act previously.

"It was not (the employee's) desire through this process that any party be charged with regard to this incident. In a previous discussion that we had a few months ago, he also made a point of saying he was grateful for those persons who were around him at the time of the incident and indicated that without their quick response, he might not have lived," Haighway told the court.

However, she pointed out, standards for laying and prosecuting OHS charges require companies to be held accountable for violations.

"It's every worker's right to attend their place of employment and to be free from risk, injury or death," she said. "Without maintaining safe working standards and holding employers accountable for violations, each workplace has the potential to enable tragic results."

Anthony told the court the incident wasn't the result of a flagrant disregard for safety or any intentional conduct by Hurricane Industrial. He detailed the changes the company has made since the accident, including the implementation of a new jacking and blocking procedure; the monthly inspection by the company and yearly inspection by an external consultant of all jacks; weekly safety meetings with technicians, and the development of a mobile training app that provides lessons on safe workplace practices and other topics.

"The company does not compromise employee or project safety," Anthony said, adding the employee had undergone jacking and blocking training a year prior to the accident and is a respected and valued field service technician who had "always been viewed as having good judgment and as being a very safety oriented individual."

Hurricane supported the man during his recovery by keeping him on the payroll, paying for his physiotherapy and extra medical expenses, and accommodating his slow return to his regular duties last year, Anthony said.

"Hurricane … accepts and acknowledges its responsibility in this matter and there's a heartfelt desire for healing for all of those involved," he told the court.

Mercer accepted the joint recommendation and gave the company 90 days to pay the fine.