A Cambridge-based contractor has been fined $80,000 in connection with a 2023 workplace incident that led to a worker’s injury.

Trade-Mark Industrial Inc., which provides millwrighting, rigging, electrical, piping, sheet metal and HVAC installation services, pled guilty to a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in a Whitby court. The company will also pay a 25 percent surcharge that is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

The incident occurred at an industrial facility in Whitby on May 10, 2023. Trade‑Mark Industrial Inc. had been hired to perform maintenance work the facility.

A few days before the incident, a supervisor instructed a worker to install a butterfly valve on a section of horizontal cooling pipe. The pipefitter told the foreman that the bolts available on site were not the right ones for the job. But the foreman instructed the worker to use them in the interim until the proper bolts could be sourced.

On the day of the accident, supervisors instructed another crew to switch and reposition two pipe skids that were attached to the cooling pipe. To do this, a chain fall was installed to support the north side of the pipe, but the south side remained supported only by the incorrect bolts.

When the pipe was lifted slightly to create clearance, the south connection failed and the pipe fell, injuring a worker.

An investigation by the Ministry of Labour determined the pipe was not adequately braced to prevent movement that could affect its stability. As a result, Trade-Mark Industrial Inc. was found to have failed to ensure that the measures and procedures as prescribed by section 31(1)(b) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 (Construction Projects) were carried out at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

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