Vaughan company fined $130K in death of worker at construction site

The Newmarket Provincial Offences Court is seen in this Google Maps Streetview. (Google Maps)

A construction company has been fined $130,000 after a worker died from falling concrete during a project in Vaughan more than a year ago.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour announced the fine against Fourwinds Construction on Friday, saying the Concord-based company “failed to ensure a headwall was stored in a way that did not endanger a worker.”

The incident occurred on Rutherford Road between Peter Rupert Avenue and Bathurst Street on Aug. 31, 2023 when workers were installing a headwall, which is a wall of concrete with a hole near the middle that frames the outlet of a drainage pipe or culvert.

During its installation, the ministry says the workers determined that the excavation site was not wide enough to align the headwall, and thus further digging was required.

The ministry said an excavator moved the headwall and placed it in an upright position to clear the area for digging.

“Workers removed the chain sling from the excavator boom and attached the digging bucket,” the ministry said.

“While excavating to fit the headwall, the excavator bucket contacted the headwall, causing it to tip and fatally injure a worker.”

Fourwinds Construction, which was contracted to install water, wastewater and stormwater utilities for a road widening project, pleaded guilty in a provincial offences court in Newmarket.

In addition to the fine, the court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, which the ministry said is credited to a special government fund to assist victims of crime.