Kitchener-Waterloo

Construction company fined $112.5K over worker's death in Waterloo

Central Construction has pleaded guilty to failing to implement appropriate safety measures in connection to the Oct. 11, 2013 death of Nick Lalonde, 23, at a Waterloo construction site.
Central Construction pleaded guilty in court and will pay a $90,000 fine after the death of a 23-year-old worker in 2013. (Matthew Kang/CBC)

Central Construction has pleaded guilty to failing to implement appropriate safety measures in connection to the Oct. 11, 2013 death of Nick Lalonde, 23, at a Waterloo construction site. 

The company will pay a $90,000 fine, along with an additional 25 per cent surcharge that goes to a provincial fund for victims of crime. In all, the company will have to pay $112,500.

The Ministry of Labour reported that the company was subcontracted by Maison Canada to complete masonry work at 185 King Street North, an off-campus student high rise.

Lalonde was knocked off the 12th storey of a building when a skid of concrete blocks pushed him through a parapet wall that surrounded the roof top. He fell 43.4 feet and landed on a mast climber, sustaining fatal head and leg injuries.

"The young worker was trained in fall protection but was not using any form of fall protection at the time of the incident," said the ministry in a press release. "The parapet wall was 23.5 inches high and did not constitute a guardrail."

Central Construction pleaded guilty to "failing as an employer to ensure that a fall restricting system is used where a guardrail system is not reasonably possible."