A Sarnia company and a supervisor were fined a total of $130,000 in Provincial Offences Court Wednesday for the death of a worker in February 2014.
Professional Valve Service Ltd. and shop co-ordinator, Joe Heynsbergen, pleaded guilty to charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
A worker was disassembling a valve for routine cleaning and maintenance at 1143 Vanier Rd. when a rod released under pressure and struck the man in the head. The employee was found by a co-worker and died two days later.
Ontario Labour Ministry spokesman William Lin says court heard that the worker had limited experience and no formal training on the type of valve he was disassembling.
"Our ministry investigated and found that no formal training on Fort Vale valves had been provided," says Lin. "The supervisor assumed that the worker had training on the hazards associated with the company's procedure for disassembling such valves, with no basis for that assumption."
Justice of the Peace Anna Hampson fined the company $125,000 and the supervisor $5,000.
The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge which is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
