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Convicted: Hydro One Networks Inc., 8-483 Bay Street, South Tower, Toronto, Ontario, a power supply company, and Gregory Diebold, a supervisor

Location of Workplace: A construction project on Howick-Turnberry Road near Gilmour Line in Wingham, Ontario

Description of Offence: A worker was critically injured after a copper wire they were holding made contact with a live powerline. Hydro One failed to ensure that work performed on or near electrical transmission or distribution systems was performed in accordance with section 132 of the Electrical Utility Safety Rules as required by section 181 of Ontario Regulation 213/91. The supervisor failed to take every reasonable precaution to prevent hazards to workers from energized electrical equipment, installations and conductors, as required by section 183 of the Regulation.

Date of Offence: September 25, 2022

Date of Conviction: November 19, 2024 (Hydro One), and August 13, 2024 (the supervisor)

Penalty Imposed:

• Following guilty pleas in the Provincial Offences Court in Goderich, Hydro One was fined $250,000 by Justice of the Peace Kristine Diaz and Gregory Diebold was fined $12,000 by Justice of the Peace Tara Oudekerk; Crown Counsel was Katie Krafchick.
• The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Background:

• On September 25, 2022, two workers were installing 21-inch copper leads on a 3-phase 44 kilovolt powerline. They were working from a double bucket insulated boom truck.
• The powerline they were working on was deenergized. A single rural 4.8 kilovolt powerline below them was still live and a cover-up barrier was not applied. The distance between the powerlines was about 20.5 feet.
• As one of the workers handed the end of a copper lead to the other, they lost their grip and dropped their end of the lead. The second worker was holding the other end of the lead when it made contact with the live powerline below, causing a critical injury.
• A Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development investigation found several failures with respect to section 132 of the Electrical Utility Safety Rules (EUSR), including:
  • The job planners failed to complete a work plan identifying the hazards at this specific work location.
  • The job planners, including the supervisor, did not account for the lead lengths and line heights when assessing the distance between the top of the insulated bucket down to the energized line.
  • The single rural 4.8 kilovolt power line was not covered or controlled.
• Furthermore, the supervisor had been identified on the job plan as a designated observer, but because the work was being done more than 3 feet away from the lower, energized rural line, they believed a designated observer was not required.
• Hydro One Networks Inc. failed, as an employer, to ensure that the work was performed in accordance with section 132 of the EUSR as required by section 181 of Ontario Regulation 213/91, contrary to section27(1)(a) of the of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
• The supervisor also failed to take every reasonable precaution to prevent hazards to workers from energized electrical equipment, installations and conductors, as required by section 183 of Ontario Regulation 213/91, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

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