Man's foot partially amputated in workplace incident, OHS lays charges

A St. John'sconstruction company is facing nine charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a worker's foot had to be partially amputated after a workplace incident.

The man, who was 34 years old at the time,was working for RJG Construction on a wharf at the St. John's Harbour in October 2017. He fellinto the water while wearing a life-jacket and co-workers rescued him by boat.

A stop-work order was orderedbut lifted less than a week later.

The violations under the act relate to the company's alleged failure to:

• Provide and maintain a safe workplace.
• Provide necessary information, instruction, training and supervision.
• Ensure workers and particularly supervisors are made familiar with the hazards.
• Ensure safe work procedures are followed.
• Ensure safe work procedures promote the safe interaction of workers and their work environment.
• Ensure the use of a mobile crane meets applicable requirements.
• Implement its OHS program.
• Ensure the OHS program includeswritten safe work procedures.
• Ensure material is placed in a secure manner that does not constitute a hazard to a worker.

The charges were laid after an investigation by the OHS Division of Service NL.

A court appearance is scheduled for July 16 in St. John's.

Company previously cited by judge for incompetence

RJG Construction was ordered by a Supreme Court judge in February 2018 to pay Marine Atlantic $1.3 million for itsfailure to complete wharf work in Argentia.

While both partieshad accused the other of breach of contract, Justice James Adamsruled against the construction company.

"The real cause of the delays was incompetence on the part of the management of RJGin failing to properly plan for the needs of the project with skilled staff, equipment and work scheduling," Adams wrote in his decision, released Feb. 26, 2018.

Specifically, Adams said,the company did not have adequate skilled tradespeople to complete the work, or appropriate cranes or barges.

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