Another Ontario employer has been jailed for violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act. As in some previous OHSA jail-time cases, this one involved a worker falling off a roof.

For our blog posts on some previous OHSA jail-time cases, click here.

The worker was working on the roof of a construction project. He was wearing a fall-arrest harness that was attached to a lanyard, which was connected to a lifeline. The worker detached the lanyard from the lifeline and moved toward a different lifeline at the peak of the roof. He slipped and fell almost 30 feet to the ground and was seriously injured.

The employer, an individual, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the worker was attached to a travel restraint system at all times.  The court sentenced the employer to 30 days in jail.

Importantly, this was the employer’s second conviction under the OHSA.  In 2013, another worker employed by the employer died after he fell 26 feet to the ground. The employer was fined $15,000 in that case.

For years, jail terms were very rare in OHSA matters.  The courts appear to be getting more comfortable with imposing jail time for serious OHSA violations by repeat offenders.

The MOL press release for this case can be found here.