Lafarge fined $400,000 for worker’s fatal fall at decommissioned plant

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Lafarge Canada Ltd. has been fined $400,000 in the Woodstock, Ont. court for the death of a worker in a decommissioned cement plant more than two years ago.

The cement company with facilities across Canada entered a guilty plea to one count of violating section 72 of Ontario Regulation 851, for failing to shore up a damaged structure in danger of collapse, or to provide safeguards to prevent access.

On Aug. 23, 2017, a worker was leading contractors on a tour of a plant closed in 2008 where they were to look at one of the decommissioned kiln buildings slated for potential demolition.

The worker took the contractors to the upper level of the kiln buildings onto an exterior walkway,
where a corroded section collapsed. The worker, who fell nearly 30 feet to the ground, later died from the injuries in the hospital.

The walkway was found to have corroded to the point where it was structurally unsound. It had not been braced or shored up to prevent collapse, and there were no adequate barriers, locks, or other safeguards to prevent access to the kilns or walkways.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour notes Lafarge Canada has been convicted and fined for contraventions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2017. Three of the four convictions were related to the deaths of workers.

In addition to the $400,000 fine, the court also imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.