Construction company and director face six-figure fine for worker's death in fall

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A southwestern Ontario construction company and its director have been fined a total of $117,500 by the province after a worker died on the job two years ago.

The Department of Labor announced that four workers were installing wooden roof trusses at the 51235 Chalet Line site in Aylmer on March 4, 2022. None of the four were wearing hard hats or fall protection, the department said in a news release Thursday, adding there were also no guardrails.

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A worker was standing on a shackle of two-by-four timbers and was driving nails into the wood with a cordless frame nailer (similar to a nail gun), the ministry said. The strap broke and the worker fell more than 5 meters (16 feet) from the roof, fatally injured by the nail gun.

The company's director, Kyle Vanhuigten, and his company, Vanhuigten Contractors, pleaded guilty and were fined $32,500 and $85,000, respectively, the department said.

The company is based in the Derry community east of Tillsonburg and has been in business since 2011, according to its website. structure,” the website says.

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