Guard door severely injures hand

ODC Manufacturing Limited, a Barrie, ON producer of die-cast parts, pleaded guilty and was fined $55,000 in January for an incident that could have been prevented if a worker had been advised of a machine malfunction.

In June 2007, a die-cast machine stopped. The worker operating the machine put it in manual mode, examined it, then opened a guard door and reached into the machine to reposition one of its components. The machine closed on the worker's hand, causing severe hand injuries.

When functioning properly, this type of machine stops moving if the guard door is opened. At the time of the incident, the company knew that the machine was malfunctioning. Two and a half months before the incident, a supervisor warned the worker that the machine could keep moving with the door open. However, on the day of the incident the worker believed the machine was operating properly because no one had warned about the continuing hazard.

ODC Manufacturing Limited pleaded guilty to failing to inform the worker about the continuing hazard or malfunction of the machine, a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, section 25(2)(d).

Worker’s hand partially amputated

Atlas Concrete Accessories Ltd. and a director recently pleaded guilty to a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that led to the partial amputation of a worker’s hand.

In July 2008, a worker at the company's metal stamping shop in Toronto, ON was greasing the gears of a machine while it was in motion. The amputation occurred when the worker's hand became caught in the gears.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that a guard preventing access to the gears had been removed two weeks earlier, at the director's request, because the machine was overheating.

The firm and the director each pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the machine was adequately guarded, a violation of section 25 of the Industrial Establishments Regulation (O. Reg. 851). Fines: $60,000 and $5,000, respectively.

MOL inspector discovers asbestos

Richmond North Property Corp. pleaded guilty and was fined $37,500 in December 2009 for asbestos violations under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

During the summer of 2007, the company was renovating a building it owned in London, ON. In August 2007, the Ministry of Labour found asbestos at the project. An investigation revealed the company had failed to notify workers. The firm pleaded guilty to failing to

• advise workers of asbestos-containing material
• provide workers with the location of asbestos-containing material
• advise workers whether asbestos-containing material was friable or non-friable

This is contrary to section 5(2) of O. Reg. 278, Designated Substance — Asbestos on Construction Projects and in Buildings and Repair Operations.

Arc flash burns maintenance worker

Ontario Power Generation Inc. recently pleaded guilty and was fined $100,000 following an incident in which an arc flash burned a worker’s hand, arm and chest.

In January 2008, two maintenance workers at the company's Atikokan, ON operating station were called to examine malfunctioning equipment. The equipment was locked in a chamber to protect workers from its electrically energized, moving apparatus. A lockout system required equipment to be electrically de-energized, grounded and locked out before the chamber could open. However, an equipment operator used a bypass key to circumvent the lockout system and open a hatch door while the equipment was still energized. One of the workers triggered an arc flash when he shone a flashlight into the open door, and received burns.

Ontario Power Generation Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to prevent ready access to a means of circumventing the lockout system, a violation of section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Faulty electrical cord stuns worker

Hendrickson Canada Ltd. in Stratford, ON was fined $65,000 in December 2009 following an incident in which a worker fell unconscious from an electrical shock.

Workers at the plant, which manufactures springs used in heavy trucks, had been using a welding machine to remove a steel partition attached to the floor. The machine was powered by a chain of three extension cords. When the machine malfunctioned, a worker shut it down. The injured worker received the electrical shock while trying to disconnect one of the cords. The cord was later found to be faulty.

Hendrickson Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the electrical cord was maintained in good condition, as required by section 25(1)(b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Isocyanates used without controls

Stratford, ON employer Smith Steel & Fabrication Inc. pleaded guilty and was fined $28,000 in December 2009, for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after failing to comply with an order involving designated substances. A director of the company was fined $8,000.

In September 2007, a Ministry of Labour inspector visited the company's workplace in Atwood. The inspector noticed that isocyanates — a designated substance under the act — were being used without completion of an assessment, and without proper controls. The inspector issued a stop use order. Two months later, the inspector issued another stop use order. In May 2008, the inspector learned the company had used isocyanates in violation of the stop use orders.

Smith Steel & Fabrication Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the orders of an inspector, a violation of section 66(1)(b). The director pleaded guilty to failing to take all reasonable care to ensure that the corporation complied with the orders, a violation of section 32(b). Fines: $28,000 and $8,000, respectively.

Worker trips, injuring face

QBD Cooling Systems Inc. pleaded guilty and was fined $50,000 in December 2009 following an incident in which a worker fell while carrying an evaporator coil assembly that blocked his view. The worker misjudged a step over a floor-mounted conveyor and tripped, sustaining facial injuries after falling on the coil assembly.

The firm, a Brampton, ON commercial refrigerator manufacturer, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the evaporator coil assembly was lifted, carried or moved in a way that would not endanger the worker. The failure is a violation of section 45(a) of the Industrial Establishments Regulation (O. Reg. 851).

Rotating shaft injures worker’s arm

Georgia-Pacific Canada, Consumer Products, ULC, a manufacturer of paper, building and consumer products, pleaded guilty and was fined $75,000 in December 2009 for a violation of machine guarding requirements.

In March 2008, the arm of a worker at the company's Toronto facility was pulled into a machine and injured. The worker, who had been trying to clear a jam in a "bagger machine," had opened the guard around the machine to clear paper cups that had fallen. When the machine’s rotating shaft caught the worker's sleeve, the worker's arm was pulled into the machine and injured.

The worker had not been told to ensure the rotating shaft had stopped before reaching inside. A Ministry of Labour investigation found that leaving the machine running while clearing fallen cups was standard procedure.

Georgia-Pacific Canada, Consumer Products, ULC pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the machine had maintenance work performed on it only when motion that may endanger a worker had stopped, a violation of O. Reg. 851, section 75(a).

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour