Safety violations cost construction company dearly

Last Updated Apr 1 2005 09:48 AM CST
CBC News

INUVIK, N.W.T. – A Yellowknife judge has fined a construction company and put it on probation for violations of safety regulations.

Ninety North Construction was fined $15,000 for safety violations that occurred over three months, during the construction of the new Capital Suites hotel in Inuvik.

Ninety North Construction pleaded guilty to the charges.

The court heard a Worker's Compensation Board inspector warned the company at least nine times to make sure workers used safety harnesses when on the roof of the three-storey building.

Eight photos that the inspector took of workers on the roof without their safety gear were entered as evidence.

Judge Bernadette Schmaltz said the company didn't deserve much credit for the guilty plea, given the overwhelming evidence against it.

Ninety North's lawyer said the company was working in a booming building market and could ill-afford to fire workers who did not comply with safety rules.

Judge Schmaltz said, boom or no boom, Ninety North sacrificed worker safety to meeting construction deadlines and make money.

She said it was playing Russian roulette with the lives of its workers.

Ninety North has its own safety manual, but it seems to be largely ignored.

No one knew it existed until halfway through the sentencing hearing.

One of the conditions of the company's two-year probation is that every worksite supervisor have a signed, dated copy of the manual.