An excavator operator has been found guilty of two Occupational Health and Safety Act charges after hitting a power line.
The operator, who was working on a road construction project, was planning to load the excavator onto the float bed of a truck to take it to another worksite. The truck driver parked under a power line. The operator commented that “You’re kind of close to those wires”, to which the truck driver said, “it’s all right”.
The operator then moved the excavator and hit the power line, which carried 69,000 volts. The truck driver received an electric shock and fell. The operator was able to revive the truck driver, who suffered injuries including burns and was off work for a year.
The judge found that the excavator operator was “clearly apprised of the dangerous situation”, as shown by his comment that the truck was “kind of close” to the power line and his statement to the government safety inspector that, “I seen the wires, I knew the wires were there.” He should have, at the least, refused to load the excavator until the truck was completely away from the power line. The judge said that “this was clearly an avoidable workplace injury”.
The judge found the operator guilty of two OHSA charges: failing to take every reasonable precaution to protect the safety of himself and others, and carrying out work within 6 metres of a power line without knowing the voltage of the power line.
R. v. Jardine, 2016 NSPC 22 (CanLII)
