Newmarket, Ont. - Impex Granite & Marble Ltd., a Concord importer and distributor of granite and marble, was fined $70,000 on June 26, 2009, for a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after a worker was killed.

On May 24, 2007, workers were unloading slabs of granite from a container. The slabs, weighing between 226 and 454 kilograms each, were in bundles of 10 held together by wooden braces. While the workers were cutting the wooden braces, one broke, causing that bundle of granite and three others to tip sideways and pin one of the workers to the side of the container. The worker suffered fatal crushing injuries.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that there was nothing to stop the granite from tipping onto a worker once the braces were cut.

Impex Granite & Marble Ltd. pleaded guilty under the OHSA to failing, as an employer, to ensure the granite was transported, placed and stored so that it would not tip, collapse or fall, and it could be removed or withdrawn without endangering the safety of any worker.

The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Carol Seglins. In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge on the total, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.  The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Court Information at a Glance

Location:                    Ontario Court of Justice

                                    465 Davis Dr.

                                    Newmarket, ON

Judge:                        

Justice of the Peace Carol Seglins

Date of Conviction:

June 26, 2009

Defendants:

Impex Granite & Marble Ltd.

Matter:                      

Occupational Health and Safety

Conviction(s):            

Ontario Regulation 851, Section 45(b)

Crown Counsel:

Alicia Gordon-Fagan