Catholic board fined $250K in death of maintenance worker at St. Nicholas Adult High School

The Ottawa Catholic School Board has been fined $250,000 after pleading guilty to provincial safety violations in relation to the 2015 death of maintenance worker Luc Charron.

Charron was working at St. Nicholas Adult High School on Jan. 9, 2015 and was bringing a lifting device to the gymnasium to replace a safety cage on a ceiling light.

He was bringing the portable aerial device down a ramp from a trailer, but Ministry of Labour investigators say the ramp was too steep, and the devicetipped over and struck him.

Paramedics arrived at the school around 12:30 p.m. where they found Charron on the ground suffering from a traumatic head injury and no vital signs. He was transported to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Ministry of Labour said the school board pleaded guilty to failing as an employer "to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstance for the protection of a worker."

Specifically, the board failed to ensure that:

• the angle of the ramp was at least five degrees.
• the ramp and ground surface were free of ice or snow.
• the aerial device with the mast was rolled down the ramp with the mast on the upper or high end of the ramp (toward the van) to lessen the possibility of it tipping.
• another worker was present to assist the worker.

Justice of the Peace Jacques Desjardins imposed a fine of $250,000.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25percent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge goes into a provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.