Dalwinder Singh Kandola and G & D Construction Ltd. (GDCL) were found in contempt of court last month. The company was fined $ 25,000 and Kandola was sentenced to 14 days behind bars. Cantola and his company had previously been ordered to pay more than $ 43,000 for employee compensation law violations and civil contempt, according to a May 18 ruling by PK Supreme Court Justice Sheila Tucker. But so far, he said, these sentences have had “little to no effect.” “In my view, a penalty that exceeds the fine is required,” Tucker wrote. “Considering the fines imposed so far as business costs, Mr. Kandola put GDCL employees at risk of harm, showed disrespect to the court and created the impression that they were operating with impunity.” WorkSafeBC won an injunction against Kandola and his company in October 2017, when a BC Supreme Court judge ordered him to comply with workplace safety laws. Most of the safety violations to date relate to dangerous conditions for people working at heights and a lack of protection against falls, according to the ruling. It details several WorkSafeBC inspections at construction sites between 2018 and 2020 that identified missing guardrails and fall protection plans, lack of safety training, and failure to comply with work stoppage orders for construction over 10 feet. These findings led to administrative sanctions of more than $ 30,000 and a total of $ 8,000 in fines imposed by the court for contempt.
“Inability to understand the significance of the offense”
Despite these findings, WorkSafeBC inspections at sites in Surrey and Mission in 2021 revealed similar issues, such as workers wearing drop straps that were not secured to anything and an employee handling a raised work platform without formal training, the ruling said. . “The fact that violations continue to involve similar behavior and similar risk speaks volumes about the contempt involved,” Tucker wrote. In his defense, Kandola claimed that none of his employees had filed WorkSafeBC claims for injuries and that he had paid a full $ 5,000 administrative fine for the 2021 violations. He also said his company had now rectified all issues related to these inspections and that the violations were detected only in some of the construction sites of his company. Tucker dismissed that argument. “While the respondents admitted the violations before me and took responsibility for them in this limited sense, no regrets were expressed. In addition, the respondents wrongly characterize the violations as small in number and severity,” Tucker said. “The argument that GDCL was found ‘only’ in contempt of 2017 order in two of the nine sites in the 2021 project demonstrates its inability to understand the significance of this misconduct.” The judge said GDCL must pay its fine to the provincial treasurer within 60 days of its decision. He also awarded special expenses to WorkSafeBC. WorkSafeBC has abandoned a previous request for a termination order, the ruling said.
