A Canadian court has fined a hardware store owner CAD56,000 (USD41,590) after a neighbourly forklift loan ended with terrible injuries, according to a MooseJawToday.com report.

Douglas Zinkhan, co-owner of Grand Valley Press, was crushed by a 1,225 lb. (555 kg) printing press that fell from a forklift driven by an employee of the neighbouring business, Castle Building Centre, in September 2021.

Ray Donn Toews Building Materials, the owner of Castle Building Centres, pled guilty to three charges under The Saskatchewan Employment Act in Moose Jaw Provincial Court.

The hardware store had sent a forklift and driver next door to help Zinkhan unload a new printing press he’d collected from Yorkton earlier, which had been placed on his truck on a makeshift pallet. 

The court heard when the operator arrived, he did not have a spotter or any further instructions apart from unloading the machine.

As he was moving the press, it slipped and Zinkhan tried to stop its trajectory. 

The machine landed on Zinhan, ripping his heel out of his ankle socket and breaking his leg, an injury that required three plates and 30 screws to repair. 

The court heard the hardware business had suffered during the pandemic, forcing it to reduce it workforce from from 30 to six.

Judge Brian Hendrickson said the fine would encourage Castle Building Centres to take occupational health and safety more seriously as well as being a deterrent for other companies.