The worker was fitting a grapple attachment to an excavator. Not operating the machine. Working on it, up close, hands in the danger zone where the arm and the attachment meet.
On January 29, 2020, that worker was setting the position arm of a grapple attachment to the excavator's lower jaw when the boom suddenly descended. The position arm critically injured him. He lived. But his life changed that day, and it changed because nobody had built a safe way to do the job.
What Happened
Trisan General Contractors Inc. is based in Goodwood, Ontario. The incident happened at the company's workplace at 18 Namco Road in Etobicoke, Ontario. A worker performing work for Trisan was up at the excavator, setting the position arm of a grapple attachment onto the excavator's lower jaw.
While he was doing that, the boom of the excavator suddenly descended. The position arm critically injured the worker.
A Ministry of Labour investigation found the failure was not a broken machine. It was a missing plan. There was no safe procedure to make sure a worker fitting an attachment was kept out of the path of a moving boom and a moving arm. Trisan was convicted on January 28, 2022.
What the Law Says
Trisan was convicted under section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and no regulation was cited. The reasonable precaution it did not take was a safe procedure to ensure the worker was not exposed to a crushing hazard.
That duty sits at the core of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the general employer obligation to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker.
Basically, what this means is simple: if there is a known way a worker could get crushed, you have to plan the job so that it cannot happen. A safe procedure is the plan. It tells the worker how the machine is secured, what has to be blocked or supported, and where a body is allowed to be before anyone reaches in. When there is no procedure, the worker is left to guess, and a boom does not wait for a good guess.
The court fined Trisan General Contractors Inc. $55,000 plus the mandatory 25% victim fine surcharge.
Three Things This Case Teaches Ontario Contractors
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Fitting and servicing equipment is not the same as operating it, and it needs its own procedure. Most of your safe-work planning goes into running the machine. The injuries often happen when someone is up close changing an attachment or adjusting a part. Write a specific procedure for attachment changes that says how the boom and arm are supported or de-energized before any hand goes in.
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Gravity does not need power to hurt someone. A boom, an arm, or an attachment can drop or shift under its own weight the moment a pin, a lock, or hydraulic pressure lets go. Never let a worker reach into a gap between parts that could close. Block it, crib it, or set it on the ground first, so the moving part physically cannot come down on them.
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A safe procedure only counts if it is used every time. Trisan was not convicted for a one-off mistake by a worker. It was convicted for the system failure of not having and implementing the procedure. Do not stop at writing one. Train the crew on it, confirm they follow it, and check that the machine is secured before the job starts, not after someone is already reaching in.
Go out to your excavators this week and watch an attachment change from start to finish. Find the exact moment a worker's hands go between the arm and the attachment, and ask what is holding that boom up while they do it. Then ask your operator and your foreman: where is our written procedure for this, and what secures the machine before anyone reaches in. What they answer, and what they cannot answer, will tell you whether your crew is protected by a plan or by luck.