Operator pleads guilty to overloading and tipping crane he was unlicensed to operate, says report
A crane operator who admitted to criminal negligence causing the death of a worker in Ontario in 2021 has avoided imprisonment, according to a report.
Donald Balkwill, a 62-year-old man from Orillia, was handed a conditional sentence consisting of one year of house arrest followed by a year under evening curfew—totalling two years less a day—CTV News reported.
The sentence followed a joint submission from the Crown and defence. Justice Jocelyn Speyer accepted the submission, noting that although Balkwill did not intend to harm anyone, the consequences of his actions were “catastrophic,” according to the report.
Balkwill pleaded guilty to overloading and tipping a crane he was unlicensed to operate, leading to the death of steel beam installer Corey Phillips.
Worker struck by 4,400-pound steel beam
The incident happened on June 24, 2021 at the Dunlop Street West job site near Boys Street in Barrie. The crane tipped over and fatally injured Phillips.
Phillips, who was standing atop a concrete wall without his fall protection harness properly connected, was struck by a 4,400-pound steel beam. He fell to the ground before a second beam dislodged and crushed him. The overloaded crane, which tipped just five feet off the ground, had also been mechanically altered to bypass its built-in overload safety system, according to CTV News.
The Barrie Courthouse heard that Balkwill used a falsified crane operator’s licence to secure employment with North Steel and had never passed the mandatory provincial certification exam.
An agreed statement of facts revealed that the crane’s overload protection system had been mechanically modified to bypass safety mechanisms. Although Balkwill was not responsible for these alterations, his operation of the crane under unsafe conditions directly contributed to the incident, according to CTV News.
Criminal charges against North Steel were withdrawn by the Crown in 2024. Occupational Health and Safety charges against Balkwill were stayed, and related charges under the Ministry of Labour could not proceed due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
CTV News also reported that Balkwill remains employed by North Steel. Both he and his lawyer declined to comment on the sentence, according to the report.
