The director of the construction company Metro Vancouver was sent to prison after repeated violations of workplace safety in violation of a court order.
Dalwinder Singh Kandola and G&D Construction Ltd. (GDCL) were found to have contempt of court last month. The company was fined $ 25,000 and Candola was sentenced to 14 days behind bars.
Candola and his business have previously been sentenced to pay more than $ 43,000 for violations of the Workers’ Compensation and Civil Disrespect Act, according to decision of May 18 by the judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia Sheila Tucker.
But so far, she said, those punishments have had “little or no effect.”
“I think a punishment beyond money is required,” Tucker wrote.
“In treating the fines imposed so far as a price for doing business, Mr Candola put GDCL workers at risk, showed contempt of court and pretended to work with impunity.”
WorkSafeBC won an injunction against Candola and his company in October 2017, when a judge at the British Columbia Supreme Court ordered him to comply with workplace safety laws.
Most of the safety violations so far relate to dangerous conditions for people working at heights and lack of protection against falling, according to the decision.
It describes several WorkSafeBC inspections of work sites between 2018 and 2020, which found missing guardrails and plans to protect against falls, lack of safety training and non-compliance with shutdown orders for construction work over 10 feet.
These findings led to administrative fines of more than $ 30,000 and a total of $ 8,000 in fines for contempt of court.
“Failure to understand the meaning of misconduct”
Despite these findings, WorkSafeBC inspections at Surrey and Mission in 2021 revealed similar problems, including workers wearing seat belts that were not actually fastened and a worker operating a lifting work platform without any formal training, the decision says.
“The fact that the violations continue to involve behaviors of this kind and risk shows the degree of disobedience,” Tucker wrote.
In his defense, Candola claims that none of his employees have filed lawsuits for WorkSafeBC injuries and that he has paid a full administrative fine of $ 5,000 for violations in 2021. He also said his company has already fixed all issues related to these inspections, and that violations were found only at some of his company’s work sites.
Tucker rejected these arguments.
“While the respondents admitted the violations to me and took responsibility for them in this limited sense, no remorse was expressed. In addition, respondents mistakenly described the violations as insignificant in number and severity, “Tucker said.
“The argument that GDCL was ‘only’ found in contemptuous breach of the 2017 order in two of the nine sites of the 2021 project demonstrates an inability to grasp the significance of the misconduct in question.”
The judge said GDCL must pay its fine to the provincial treasurer within 60 days of his sentence. It also awarded special costs to WorkSafeBC.
WorkSafeBC withdrew an earlier application for a business suspension order, the ruling said.
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