Grocery chain fined $90,000 for injury to young worker

WOODSTOCK, ON, Nov. 9 /CNW/ - Sobeys Capital Incorporated, a national
grocery retailer, pleaded guilty and was fined $90,000 in the Ontario Court of
Justice today after a young worker slipped and fell in a grocery store cooler,
January 21, 2006.
Justice of the Peace Robert Gay heard that the worker suffered a
fractured hip after slipping on a piece of ice on the floor of a walk-in food
cooler while on duty at the Sobeys store at 379 Springbank Ave., Woodstock.
Sobeys pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the floor used by the worker
was kept free of obstructions, hazards and accumulations of ice as required by
subsection 11(a) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. The failure
was contrary to paragraph 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine
surcharge on the total, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The
surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist
victims of crime.

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Court Information at a Glance
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Location: Ontario Court of Justice
415 Hunter St., Woodstock, Ontario

Judge: Justice of the Peace Robert Gay

Date: November 8, 2007

Defendants: Sobeys Capital Incorporated

Matter: Occupational Health & Safety