Sleep Country Canada has been fined $60,000 after a worker sustained critical injuries in traffic while completing a mattress delivery in the city’s Emery neighbourhood.
On Thursday, the nationwide mattress retailer pleaded guilty in a Toronto courtroom for failing to provide the proper safety apparel to its employees required when directing traffic during a home delivery, court documents showed.
The offence violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act which required that Sleep Country take every reasonable precaution to protect its workers. This includes providing adequate safety equipment, such as vests with reflective tape so its workers are highly visible when making a home delivery.
The incident occurred last January when an employee was making an evening delivery with a co-worker at an apartment building near Finch Avenue West and Weston Road.
The delivery worker was helping the driver of the Sleep Country transport truck back out of the apartment complex.
According to court documents, the worker was standing across Finch Avenue to stop traffic, while signaling the truck to back out onto the roadway.
The man was struck by a vehicle because the on-coming driver couldn’t see him, court records alleged.
He was wearing a black-and-grey Sleep Country spring uniform jacket and black pants, rather than the highly visible, fluorescent orange or yellow safety vest normally required when directing traffic.
The driver told the court “he did not see the helper on the roadway.”
The delivery helper broke several bones, and suffered other critical injuries.
