workplace death of construction worker

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P.E.I. court fines company in workplace death of construction worker

By: The Canadian Press

CHARLOTTETOWN -- A P.E.I. construction company has been fined $50,000 for violating the fall protection regulations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Prebilt Structures Ltd. had pleaded guilty to violating safety rules in connection with the death last year of Claud Adolphus Scully.

Scully died as a result of injuries suffered in a fall on a construction site at the University of Prince Edward Island.

Judge Nancy Orr ordered that the money be directed to the Workers Compensation Board to be used for public education aimed at preventing similar injuries in the workplace.

Prebilt Structures Ltd. was the sub-contractor on the new School of Business project at UPEI at the time of the accident which led to this charge.

The company was contracted to provide and erect the steel structure and decking for the building.

An agreed statement of facts presented in court Friday by Crown prosecutor John McMillan indicated that by January of last year the steel framing was erected and the steel floor panels on the fourth level of the new building were being installed.

Scully, a senior employee of Prebilt Structures Ltd. and its on-site safety representative, was walking on the construction site on the day of the accident.

The deceased slipped on the steel decking on the fourth floor and fell through the unguarded elevator opening to the second-level ground floor, landing on a stack of concrete blocks.

An investigation by the Occupational Health and Safety Division determined that on the day of the accident the fall protection system was not fully installed in the area where Scully fell.

It was also determined that the building floor openings were not guarded by guardrails in accordance with section four of the regulations.

The court was told that up until this accident Prebilt Structures had had a good workplace safety record and was committed to ensuring the safety of it workers.

Copyright (c) 2008 The Canadian Press