A judge has fined Ray Donn Toews Building Materials Ltd. — the owner of Castle Building Centres — nearly $60,000 after one of its employees injured another business’ worker in a forklift incident.
The main fine is $40,000 and a 40-per-cent victim surcharge penalty adds $16,000, totalling $56,000; the company has two years to pay.
The company pleaded guilty to three charges under The Saskatchewan Employment Act in Moose Jaw Provincial Court recently as part of a joint submission.
The incident occurred on Sept. 9, 2021, at the Grand Valley Press (GVP) yard and involved an employee from Castle Building Centres (CBC) and GVP co-owner Douglas Zinkhan, explained Crown prosecutor Sandeep Bains.
Zinkhan and fellow co-owner Dave Molesky drove to Yorkton that day to buy a printing press. When they arrived, they loaded the relatively square 1,225-pound machine onto a makeshift pallet — it was not strapped down — and had it placed onto their truck; they then returned to Moose Jaw.
Zinkhan had arranged beforehand with Castle Building Centres that the latter would send an employee in a forklift when they returned, Bains said. However, when the operator arrived, he did not have a spotter nor any further instructions aside from unloading the machine.
The forklift driver removed the pallet, turned around and planned to set it down, while Zinkhan was standing between the forklift and the shed where it was to be placed. As the operator moved, the printing press shifted.
Bains noted that Zinkhan’s instinct was to attempt to hold up the press but — unlike Superman — did not have the strength to stop the machine from toppling.
“Unfortunately, a horrendous incident occurred. Even the forklift operator saw this essentially happening in slow motion and yelled out to him, with expletives … ‘Get out of the way!’” Bains said.
“Things happened so quickly. The printing press, of course, tipped and there was no way that thing was going to be stopped.”
A miracle occurred, though, because the way the printing press fell on the ground ensured it did not crush Zinkhan’s chest or kill him, the Crown continued.
However, the force of the machine’s fall ripped Zinkhan’s heels out of their ankle sockets. Furthermore, the press broke his leg — it required three plates and about 30 screws to repair — while his right foot was ripped out and hung by its tendons.
Zinkhan spent months at Pioneer Lodge receiving care, but by May 2022, doctors were worried they would have to amputate his foot, said Bains. Meanwhile, he moved from a wheelchair to a walker to a cane but could only walk on his toes.
“He was having nightmares about his own death … . He knew that it was a life-(changing) event,” the Crown remarked.
In the end, doctors saved the man’s foot.
Based on past provincial case law, the maximum fine a company has ever received was $1.5 million, while the lowest was $11,000, Bains added. The proposed fine of $56,000 provides enough deterrence for Castle Building Centres and encourages it to take seriously its Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) obligations.
Defence lawyer Parker Chow explained that CBC has been in Moose Jaw for 22 years, and before that, existed as Beaver Lumber for 10 years. He noted that the pandemic hammered the company because it forced CBC to cut staff from 30 staff to six, affecting its ability to do business and forcing it “to wear too many hats.”
“The incident … is a very serious one and the injuries to Mr. Zinkhan are very serious, but … he didn’t lose his foot or life for that matter,” Chow said. “It quite possibly could have led to his (death) if he had not received such prompt attention from those involved.”
CBC was involved because a neighbouring business wanted a forklift driver to support the project inexpensively, so this incident was unfortunate because there were no cost-cutting steps taken or profit placed over safety, he continued.
Chow added that it’s good news that Zinkhan’s rehabilitation is going well.
Judge Brian Hendrickson accepted the joint submission, saying Zinkhan’s injuries were “mercifully” not more serious, while he was convinced the fine would force CBC to take OH&S matters more seriously and be a deterrence for other companies.
In response to some providers blocking access to Canadian news on their platforms, our website, MooseJawToday.com will continue to be your source for hyper-local Moose Jaw news. Bookmark MooseJawToday.com and sign up for our free online newsletter to read the latest local developments.
