Hot boiler feed water seriously injures worker
A Calgary-based petrochemical company has been fined $130,000 after a contract worker in Ontario suffered serious injuries when hot liquid discharged from an exhaust stack during maintenance work.
NOVA Chemicals Corporation, headquartered at 1000 Seventh Avenue SW in Calgary and operating facilities across Canada, was convicted under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) in connection with a 2024 incident at its petrochemical facility in Corunna, the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development said.
Following a guilty plea in Sarnia Provincial Offences Court, NOVA Chemicals was fined $130,000 by Justice of the Peace Louise Bessegato on December 3, 2025. Crown counsel was Judy Chan. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to “a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime,” according to the Ontario government.
Incident at Corunna facility
The incident occurred on May 7, 2024, at NOVA’s facility at 785 Petrolia Line in Corunna, where the company contracts Kel-Gor Limited to carry out maintenance work.
The site contains several boilers and heaters used in chemical manufacturing. To maintain this equipment, workers must periodically remove water from the heaters to minimise “scale corrosion, concentrations of impurities and other issues with the water,” the provincial report said. One method is an intermittent blow down (IBD), in which valves are manually opened to release boiler feed water from a heater storage drum into an IBD drum.
On the day of the incident, two Kel-Gor workers were on a scaffold beside an IBD drum exhaust stack while a heater was being cleaned. “Hot boiler feed water was discharged from the top of the IBD stack and caused serious injuries to a worker,” the Ontario government said.
Investigation findings and legal breach
A Ministry investigation found that “the scaffold and IBD stack were not equipped with shields or barriers to protect workers from hot liquid discharges.” It also determined that “the workers on the scaffold had not been provided with information or procedures for safely conducting work near the IBD drum exhaust hood during intermittent blowdowns.”
The province concluded that the company failed to comply with section 25(2)(a) of the OHSA, which requires employers to provide information, instruction and supervision to protect workers’ health and safety. NOVA Chemicals was found to have failed “to provide information, instruction and supervision to protect workers from hazards associated with intermittent blowdown operations,” contrary to that section of the Act, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development said.
Hot liquids (water, oils, chemicals, cleaning solutions) can cause deep tissue damage in seconds, and scalds are among the most common burn injuries globally. Guidance from the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) emphasises that “everyone who works with these liquids must be aware of their hazards and how to work safely with them.”
According to Michigan State University, employers must set first-aid procedures for times when a worker gets scalded, including:
- Cooling the burn immediately with cool (not ice-cold) running water.
- Removing any soaked clothing or jewellery near the affected area if it is not stuck.
- Seeking medical attention for large, deep or facial/hand/genital burns.
- Training workers on how and when to activate emergency services.
- Ensuring first-aid kits are stocked with supplies suitable for burn management and that designated first-aiders are trained.
