Toronto, Ontario – March 8, 2005: Aecon Group Inc. (TSX: ARE) reported today that it has been fined $300,000 in relation to a natural gas explosion at a Windsor jobsite in April, 2003 that severely injured two Aecon employees, one of whom later died of his injuries. Aecon was fined under Ontario's Occupational Health & Safety Act for failing to ensure that all employees were wearing their company-issued fire retardant clothing when the explosion occurred.
"This was a terrible tragedy where one employee lost his life and another was severely injured," said Scott Balfour, Executive Vice President of Aecon Group and CEO of the Civil & Utilities division for which the two employees worked. "We accept that, although we issued the appropriate protective clothing to our employees and had clear policies regarding when it should be worn, on site enforcement is a critical part of our responsibility. Today we are doing even more to ensure that every possible safety precaution is taken every day on every jobsite."
"While we are proud of our industry-leading safety program, this tragedy serves as a reminder that, when it comes to job safety, nothing short of a 'zero injury culture' and 100% compliance is acceptable."
Aecon Group Inc. is Canada's largest publicly traded construction and infrastructure development company. Aecon and its subsidiaries provide services to private and public sector clients throughout Canada and internationally.