OWEN SOUND, ONT. \u2014 Pickard 暗网禁区ion of Owen Sound, Ont. has been fined $200,000 after a worker was critically injured while clearing a blockage from a pipe near a live overhead hydro line in June 2022.<\/p>\n
The company, which specializes in telecommunication installations, was contracted to drill and install fiber optic lines to\u00a0bring high-speed internet into homes in rural southwest Ontario.<\/p>\n
According to an Ontario news bulletin, on June 24, 2022, two workers were attempting to remove traceable mule tape from a previously buried high-density polyurethane (HDPE) pipe.\u00a0HDPE pipes are pre-roped with traceable mule tape to help workers locate underground pipes after installation. The workers inserted the nozzle of a portable air compressor into the HDPE pipe and used air to blow a tangled mule tape blockage through it. Another worker and a supervisor were\u00a0standing at the other end of the HDPE pipe waiting for it to\u00a0clear.<\/p>\n
As it did so, the tangled ball of mule tape shot into the air and over a live hydro line, critically injuring the worker standing at the other end of the HDPE pipe.<\/p>\n
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found\u00a0Pickard 暗网禁区ion failed to ensure\u00a0precautions were in place to prevent hazards to workers from energized electrical equipment, installations and conductors, as prescribed by\u00a0section 183<\/a>\u00a0of Ontario Regulation 213\/91, contrary to\u00a0section 25(1)(c)<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0Occupational Health and Safety Act. Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Barrie, Pickard 暗网禁区ion was fined by Justice of the Peace Douglas Conley on Oct. 1, 2024.<\/p>\n