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A flooring company must pay $87,500 as its penalty for a workplace incident that left an employee unconscious after exposure to carbon monoxide while working at a London job site, provincial officials announced on Friday.
The punishment was levied after BNE Concrete Floors & Coatings Inc. pled guilty in provincial offences court to violations of the Ontario Health and Safety Act in relation to the Jan. 4, 2024, incident. It happened at a warehouse located at 3400 Dingman Dr., just south of Hwy. 401 in London, where the firm had been hired to “coat and polish concrete floors,” officials said.
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The financial penalty announced by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development breaks down as follows:
- $65,000 for the violation
- $5,000 for not immediately notifying the labour ministry about the incident
- A 25 per cent “victim fine surcharge” that will go to a fund that assists victims of crime
Ministry officials say a worker suffered a serious injury from carbon monoxide exposure at the Dingman Drive job site. The worker was operating a propane-burning polishing machine that has an internal combustion engine, officials said.
After more than two hours of work, officials say the worker “began to feel unwell and lost consciousness after leaving the room.”
In a statement, labour ministry officials said: “The worker suffered a serious injury from carbon monoxide exposure due to the lack of ventilation in the room” and that the company “failed to ensure that there was adequate ventilation where the machine was being used.”
The company, officials said, didn’t immediately notify the labour ministry – which was only contacted about the incident six days later. The scene wasn’t preserved, officials said.
BNE Concrete Floors & Coatings Inc. did not respond to a request for comment as of Friday.
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