LONDON, ONT. — BNE Concrete Floors & Coatings Inc. of Cambridge, Ont. has been fined a total of $70,000 in relation to a Jan. 4, 2023 incident where a worker was injured after prolonged exposure to carbon monoxide while at a construction project at 3400 Dingman Dr. in London.
According to an Ontario government court bulletin, the company had been contracted to coat and polish concrete floors at the construction project for a new warehouse.
The worker was operating a polishing machine that used an internal combustion engine that burned propane. After running the machine for approximately two-and-a-half hours, the worker began to feel unwell and lost consciousness after leaving the room.
He suffered a serious injury from carbon monoxide exposure due to the lack of ventilation in the room, the bulletin reads.
By failing to ensure there was adequate ventilation where the machine was being used, BNE Concrete Floors & Coatings Inc. failed to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed under section 47(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 were followed, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The company also failed, as an employer, to immediately notify an inspector of a critical injury at the workplace contrary to section 51(1) of the act.
The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development was not made aware of the incident until six days later and the scene had not been preserved, the bulletin states.
Following a guilty plea the company was fined $65,000 for the violation that led to the injury and $5,000 for failing to notify an inspector.
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