Mine contractor fined after Matachewan worker injured in fall

Mine builder Cementation Canada was fined $110,000 in a Kirkland Lake courtroom stemming from a 2021 accident when an untethered worker fell more than four metres from a raised platform at a northeastern Ontario mine site.

The Toronto-headquartered mine contractor entered a guilty plea in an Ontario Court of Justice on Sept. 26. The Ontario Ministry of Labour, Skills Development and Training posted the conviction in an Oct. 27 news release.

The incident took place at Alamos Gold’s Young Davidson Mine outside Matachewan on Jan. 27, 2021.

According to the release, the workers was working on a raise climber nest, which is a work platform used to blast and drill a large tunnel or opening that is mined upward. The worker fell 4.09 metres through an opening and suffered multiple injuries. Though the worker was wearing a full body harness, that worker wasn’t tied to a fall protection system.

Section 14(1) of Ontario Regulation 854 Mines and Mining Plants states that  a fall arrest system must be used to protect any worker exposed to a fall greater than three metres. Section 25(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act states that the employer must ensure the regulations are followed by the workplace.
Cementation pleaded guilty to contravening Section 25(1).

Along with the fine, the court imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, required under the Provincial Offences Act. The money goes toward a special fund to assist victims of crime.