Unauthorized Supervisor Decided To "Solve The Problem Himself", Caused Accident – OHSA Charges Against Company Dismissed

An employer has beat occupational health and safety charges laid after its supervisor caused an explosion when he defied instructions and took it upon himself to use a torch to thaw ice that had accumulated in a culvert.

In a production meeting, the supervisor raised the issue of the ice accumulation in a culvert under the plant service road. He said he was worried that water would flow over the road and prevent access to a cooling tower at a power generation plant operated by the employer. The acting production manager told him not to address the problem because it would be a waste of time as the ice would melt on its own, and the road had not washed out in the six years that the production manager had worked there.