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Two companies fined after worker fatally electrocuted

DCN News Services
Two companies fined after worker fatally electrocuted

NEWMARKET, ONT. — Two Toronto-area construction firms were fined a total of $285,000 following an incident in which a worker was killed when a boom came into contact with live overhead electrical lines.

PGC Services Inc. of Gormley, a company that provides hydro vacuum excavation services to the construction and utilities industries, and K-Line Maintenance and Construction Limited of Stouffville, a company that provides design, procurement, construction and maintenance services for overhead distribution lines, were convicted in a Newmarket court Feb. 15 for their roles in an incident that occurred at a K-Line construction jobsite on Highway 7 in Thornhill in November 2015, a Ministry of Labour statement said.

As outlined by the ministry, K-Line was retained by a utility owner to replace existing overhead lines. PGC was sub-contracted to excavate holes for the installation of new electrical utility poles.

Hydrovac excavation was being used on the site. Crews use specialized hydrovac trucks equipped with long articulating booms along with a high-pressure water hose and a water tank.

On Nov. 24, 2015, PGC sent two of its hydrovac crews to the site. The crews began setting up their equipment by extending the boom arms of the hydrovac trucks and by installing dig tube extensions to allow the vacuum to reach the excavation areas.

The excavation area along the road was serviced by existing overhead power lines with a phase-to-phase voltage of 27,600 volts. The work was taking place in proximity to the lines, the ministry said.

All members of both crews were busy preparing the equipment for excavation. There was no one present monitoring the movement of the hydrovac boom arms in order to warn the operator to ensure the equipment did not encroach upon the legal safety standard, which states: “No object shall be brought closer than three metres from an energized overhead electrical conductor with a nominal phase-to-phase voltage of between 750 and 150,000 volts.”

The boom arms of the hydrovac trucks are operated by a remote control. As one worker was performing a task, one or more of the toggles on the remote control was triggered by coming into contact with or being caught on a body part or a piece of clothing. The movement of the toggle(s) caused the boom arm to move and come into contact with the overhead electrical lines parallel to the road.

The boom arm’s contact with the 27,600-volt energized overhead electrical conductor caused the electrical current to pass through the first truck. One worker on the passenger side of the truck was fatally electrocuted.

The court ruled that PGC failed as an employer to ensure that no object was brought closer than three metres from an energized overhead electrical conductor, as required by section 188(2) of the Construction Regulation, violating section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).

It was also determined that K-Line failed as a constructor to ensure that a designated signaller was in place to warn the operator each time any part of the vehicle or equipment approached three metres from an energized overhead electrical conductor as required by section 188(8) of the Construction Regulation, violating section 23(1)(a) of the OHSA.

This section of the regulation requires a constructor to ensure that a competent worker is designated as a signaller and stationed so that he or she is in full view of the operator and has a clear view of the electrical conductor and of the vehicle or equipment, and that the signaller warn the operator when any part of a vehicle or equipment approaches the minimum distance from an energized overhead electrical conductor. A signaller shall not perform any other work while acting as a signaller.

Following guilty pleas, K-Line was fined $160,000 and PGC was fined $125,000.

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