CONCORD, ONT. — Fourwinds Construction Inc. of Concord, Ont. has been convicted and fined after a worker was killed during a road widening construction project on Rutherford Road, between Peter Rupert Avenue and Bathurst Street, in Vaughan.
In 2023 Fourwinds has been contracted to install water, wastewater and stormwater utilities for the road project.
On Aug. 31, 2023, three workers employed by the company were installing a headwall, a wall of concrete with a hole near the middle that frames the outlet of a drainage pipe or culvert.
As they attempted to fit the headwall to the pipe, the workers determined the excavation site was not wide enough to align the headwall, requiring further digging, explains an Ontario government court bulletin.
To clear the area for digging, the excavator operator moved the headwall and placed it in an upright position. Workers then removed the chain sling from the excavator boom and attached the digging bucket.
While excavating to fit the headwall, the excavator bucket contacted the headwall, causing it to tip and fatally injure a worker.
After an investigation, it was determined Fourwinds failed, as an employer, to ensure the headwall was moved and stored in a manner that did not endanger a worker, as required by  of Regulation 213/91, contrary to  of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court in Newmarket, Fourwinds was fined $130,000 by Justice of the Peace Linda Debartolo.
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