Overloaded shelves net Penticton firm $500,000 fine

A Penticton building supply business has been fined more than $500,000 for overloading its warehouse shelves.

According to a Nov. 12, 2025, WorkSafeBC Inspection Report, Andrew Sheret Ltd had 1,500 lb. of supplies on a shelving rack that was unable to support such a heavy weight.

The WorkSafeBC report said Andrew Sheret in Penticton had put a pallet containing 36 pails of Glycol on a rack with a forklift, but the rack “appeared to be bowing down due to the weight of the pallet.”

Another storage rack wasn’t installed correctly.

“The newly installed storage racking had (a) baseplate with four holes and most of the columns were anchored with only a single anchor bolt,” the report reads.

The WorkSafeBC inspector ordered the rack to be unloaded immediately.

“The (employer) stated that they self-installed the blue storage racking. (And) stated that they did not have any documentation or written instructions for any of the storage racking at the interior of the building. The (employer) agreed that all storage racking was to be removed from service and all shelves were to be unloaded,” the report said.

The report said that if the racks were loaded and unloaded by hand, then the storage racks could be considered shelving and used as such.

WorkSafeBC then followed up with Andrew Sheret weeks later.

“The employer has retained the services of a storage racking installer company to fix the issues found with this storage racking,” the report reads. “Rated capacities are installed on the storage racking or are nearby and workers have been trained in the loading capacities of the racking.”

The company also provided inspection reports and committed to having a third-party storage rack company do routine maintenance.

WorkSafeBC concluded that the company failed to ensure storage racks were used to their specifications and were not installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions and issued a $521,694 fine, calling the issues “high-risk violations.”