After an investigation by the Ministry of Labor, a Canadian landscaping company has been fined $100,000 for failing to do a risk assessment at a worksite where an employee was killed two years ago. Identified as Conrad Lafrenière, the 51-year-old died while working for Ottawa-based Lafleur de la Capitale on a job at the National Gallery of Canada.
According to the Ottawa Citizen, Lafrenière was on the entrance ramp of the underground parking lot when he moved aside to let a car pass and fell backwards about 15 feet to the lower level of the exit ramp. He died at the scene as a result of serious head injuries. The ministry concluded that a guardrail or similar device would have prevented the fall.
Lafleur was fined Wednesday by Justice of the Peace Louisette Girault in Ottawa after pleading guilty to not taking every reasonable precaution to protect workers.