LONDON, ONT. -- The City of London has been fined $70,000 after a worker was severely hurt while on the job.

On Oct. 16, 2018, a worker from the Water Operations Division was asked by their boss to prepare a water drain chamber in a ravine near 517 Fanshawe Park Rd.

The worker was critically injured when a pressurized joint cap assembly on a drain pipe shot off and struck them.

Justice of the Peace Kristine M. Diaz ruled that the employer failed to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring the internal pressure of the pipeline was released before the mechanical joint end cap was removed or loosened.

The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.