ST. JACOBS, ONT. – Retailer Home Hardware Stores Limited of St. Jacobs, Ont. has been fined after a worker was critically injured in a November 2023 incident.
According to an Ontario court bulletin, on Nov. 3, 2023, a worker responsible for the fire management system was monitoring the water level in a reservoir in the basement of the company’s warehouse.
The system included water pumps that operated weekly, causing the water level in the reservoir to go down and requiring it to be refilled manually.
During the refilling process, the water level must be visually monitored to prevent an overflow flooding the basement and falsely activating a fire alarm, the bulletin describes.
To access the top the reservoir, which is located approximately 10 feet above the ground, the worker used an aluminum shelf ladder. While climbing down the ladder, the worker slipped and fell, sustaining critical injuries.
An investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development found the worker regularly accessed the top of the water reservoir using an aluminum shelf ladder. They had not received ladder safety training as part of their orientation.
Following the incident, the company did provide ladder safety training for its employees and implemented the following additional safety measures:
replaced the aluminum shelf ladder with rolling staircase ladders equipped with a top standing platform, guardrails on both sides and brakes; required workers to use spotters when using the ladder and posted “spotters required” signs on all rolling staircase ladders; and moved responsibility for checking water levels to the maintenance team.
Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Kitchener, on June 23, 2026, Home Hardware Stores Limited was fined $75,000 by Justice of the Peace Michael Cuthbertson.
Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Kitchener, Home Hardware Stores Limited was fined $75,000 by Justice of the Peace Michael Cuthbertson; Crown Counsel was Katie Krafchick.
