City of London convicted for water line mishap

LONDON, ONT. — The Corporation of the City of London, Ont. has been convicted for its role in an October 2018 incident in which one of its workers was injured on a water infrastructure job.

The jobsite was on Fanshawe Park Road in London, reports a bulletin from the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development. A crew of workers from the Water Operations Division of the city was instructed by their supervisor to prepare a water drain chamber located in a ravine. The chamber was to receive water drained out from the main water line so that a new valve could be added to the main water line.

The preparation work required confirming that the valve connecting the six-inch drain pipeline to the main water line was closed and pumping out the ground water in the water drain chamber. Part of the task was removing a mechanical joint cap assembly installed at the end of a water line drain pipeline protruding into the chamber, so that the water in the main water line could be drained out through the drain pipeline and into the water drain chamber.

One of the workers was inside the water drain chamber attempting to remove the mechanical joint cap assembly covering the end of the drain pipeline. To do so, the worker began loosening the top two bolts of the mechanical joint cap assembly.

While doing so, the worker noticed water spraying as well as a hissing sound coming from the mechanical joint cap assembly. This indicated that pressure had built up inside the drain pipeline.

The worker stepped back slightly from the joint cap assembly. As the worker was communicating with co-workers, the pressurized joint cap assembly shot off from the drain pipeline and struck the worker, causing critical injuries.

The investigation that followed determined that the City of London committed the offence of failing, as an employer, to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker, which is an offense under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Specifically, the employer failed to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring that the internal pressure of the drain pipeline was released before the mechanical joint end cap was removed or loosened.

Following a guilty plea and conviction in provincial offences court in London on Oct. 8, the city was fined $70,000.