The City of Greater Sudbury appealed its convictions under the Occupational Health and Safety Act following an incident where a worker was injured when a mobile elevating work platform tipped over after breaking through an unknown underground structure.
The trial judge had rejected the City's due diligence defence, finding it failed to conduct a more robust site inspection.
On appeal, the Superior Court found palpable and overriding errors, noting the site conditions prevented a full inspection, the City had hired an expert constructor to clear the site, and the underground structure was a latent defect unknown to all parties.
The appeal was allowed and the City was acquitted.
