Ontario employer McDougall Energy Inc., operating as Dowler-Karn, received a $70,000 fine after a workplace injury.
After a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice in St. Thomas, the employer also paid a 25 percent victim fine surcharge per the Provincial Offences Act. This surcharge supports a provincial fund aiding crime victims.
The incident occurred on February 17, 2023, when a truck driver, dispatched from Dowler-Karn’s Sarnia branch, encountered mechanical issues due to ice buildup on the brakes. A mobile technician temporarily fixed the problem to allow the truck to deliver fuel.
After the delivery, the driver took the truck to the company’s service shop in St. Thomas for further repairs. A senior technician, repairing an air leak in the upper safety rails on the trailer, asked other workers to identify which rail was moving.
The truck driver stepped back to see the trailer’s top and accidentally fell 4.5 feet into an adjacent vehicle service pit. The pit, measuring 70 feet long, 42 inches wide, and 64 inches deep, was not in use at the time. It lacked a barricade or monitoring technician to prevent falls, according to the Ontario government.
The fall caused several injuries to the driver.
“McDougall Energy Inc., doing business as Dowler-Karn, failed to implement measures to protect a worker from falling into an in-ground vehicle service pit, as required under section 13(3) of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the Ontario government.