A grocery company has been hit with a hefty fine after bags of topsoil fell on a customer at a London store.
Loblaws Inc. was fined $80,000 in a London court on Thursday after pleading guilty to failing to follow the Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection with the incident that happened last year at the Real Canadian Superstore located at 825 Oxford St. E. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
The Ministry of Labour said on April 3, 2018, a worker at the store was using a forklift to move pallets of topsoil in the parking lot of the store to build an outdoor display of the product. The employee stopped abruptly after spotting a customer who was walking from the parking lot toward the store's main entrance, causing a load of topsoil bags to slide off the pallet. Some of the bags of soil then struck and injured the customer.
Each pallet contained around 90 25-litre bags of topsoil.
Following an investigation, the ministry found that Loblaws had failed to ensure the protection of all workers and pedestrians by providing barriers, warning signs, or better safeguards.
