OWEN SOUND, ONT. — Pickard Construction of Owen Sound, Ont. has been fined $200,000 after a worker was critically injured while clearing a blockage from a pipe near a live overhead hydro line in June 2022.
The company, which specializes in telecommunication installations, was contracted to drill and install fiber optic lines to bring high-speed internet into homes in rural southwest Ontario.
According to an Ontario news bulletin, on June 24, 2022, two workers were attempting to remove traceable mule tape from a previously buried high-density polyurethane (HDPE) pipe. HDPE pipes are pre-roped with traceable mule tape to help workers locate underground pipes after installation. The workers inserted the nozzle of a portable air compressor into the HDPE pipe and used air to blow a tangled mule tape blockage through it. Another worker and a supervisor were standing at the other end of the HDPE pipe waiting for it to clear.
As it did so, the tangled ball of mule tape shot into the air and over a live hydro line, critically injuring the worker standing at the other end of the HDPE pipe.
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found Pickard Construction failed to ensure precautions were in place to prevent hazards to workers from energized electrical equipment, installations and conductors, as prescribed by section 183 of Ontario Regulation 213/91, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Barrie, Pickard Construction was fined by Justice of the Peace Douglas Conley on Oct. 1, 2024.
Since the incident, the company has developed written procedures for the task of using compressed air to clear HDPE pipes.
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