Police investigate a reported industrial accident at Ventra Plastics in Windsor on November 3, 2016. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)Police investigate a reported industrial accident at Ventra Plastics in Windsor on November 3, 2016. (Photo by Ricardo Veneza)
Windsor

Deadly fall costs Windsor contractor $150K in fines

A Windsor construction contractor has been fined $150,000 after a worker died from a fall two years ago.

Vollmer Inc. pleaded guilty on Friday and was convicted in court.

The Ministry of Labour said a worker was killed after falling through a skylight at Ventra Plastics in Windsor on November 3, 2016. The commercial building on Kew Drive was having new electrical equipment installed. The ministry said a worker, along with a crew, was engaged in pulling lengths of heavy electrical cable onto the roof of the plant but during a break, the worker was seen in an area of the roof and the crew heard a crash. They said they saw a shattered skylight and the worker on the concrete floor directly below.

The fallen worker was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead.

A ministry spokesperson said the skylights still had all of their covers on them but there were no guardrails, protective coverings or other means of fall protection installed to protect workers from the danger of falling through the skylights on the roof of the project.

The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, or almost $38,000, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.

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