Worker trips on obstructions

A worker in a cooling tunnel at Magna Structural Systems Inc. in Milton, ON injured his leg after tripping on debris. The worker had entered the tunnel to realign a rack on which auto parts from a paint baking oven were cooling. On the floor were a piece of conduit, metal plates, skids and waste paint.

Magna pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the floor was kept free of obstructions, hazards and accumulations of refuse, as required by subsection 11(a) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $82,500.

Recycling truck rolls over worker’s foot

A temporary “loader” on a municipal recycling truck fell and suffered broken bones after the truck rolled over his foot. Both the loader and the vehicle driver had been placed by KAS Group of Companies of Mississauga, ON with Halton Recycling Ltd. of Burlington, ON. The incident occurred in Hamilton.

Both KAS and Halton Recycling failed to acquaint the worker with any workplace hazards, contrary to section 25(2)(d) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Halton also failed to acquaint the loader with any hazard in the handling and use of mobile recycling equipment. Fines: $22,500 and $65,000, respectively.

Boring machine injures worker’s hand

A worker at Maxtech Manufacturing Inc. in Waterloo, ON suffered severe hand injuries while operating a cam bracket cell machine, used to bore into machine parts. The auto parts firm specializes in machined metal components.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the machine could be operated while a safety cover was open, contrary to section 24 of Regulation 851. The regulation states that, "where a machine or prime mover or transmission equipment has an exposed moving part that may endanger the safety of any worker, the machine… shall be equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevents access to the moving part."

Maxtech was fined $70,000 for failing to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 24 of Regulation 851 were carried out.

Worker slips in grocery store cooler

National grocery retailer Sobeys Capital Incorporated was fined $90,000 after a young worker fell in the cooler of a Woodstock, ON grocery store. The worker, who had slipped on a piece of ice, suffered a fractured hip.

Sobeys pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the floor was kept free of obstructions, hazards and accumulations of ice, as required by subsection 11(a) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $90,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Worker’s skull fractured

A worker at a new Hart Stores Inc./Les Magasins Hart Inc. store in Espanola, ON suffered a fractured skull while helping to ready a loading dock for a delivery. The injury occurred as the worker was standing between the loading dock and a truck. When the truck backed up, the worker's head was caught between the back of the truck and the dock’s lip.

Hart Stores Inc./Les Magasins Hart Inc., pleaded guilty to failing to

• provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect his health and safety, contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Fine: $60,000.
• notify a Ministry of Labour inspector immediately of a critical injury, contrary to section 51(1) of the act. Fine: $10,000.

Regulation 834 of the act defines a critical injury as an injury of a serious nature that

• places life in jeopardy
• produces unconsciousness
• results in substantial loss of blood
• involves the fracture of an arm or a leg but not a finger or toe
• involves the amputation of a leg, arm, hand or foot but not a finger or toe
• consists of burns to a major portion of the body, or
• causes the loss of sight in an eye.

Worker’s arm severed

A printing press at Printbox Canada Inc., a Toronto, ON photocopying company, severed a worker’s arm as he was trying to free a jammed sheet of cardboard. The worker had already removed one piece of cardboard and had reached back in for a second piece when a co-worker restarted the equipment.

The machine applies resin coats to printed material. Neither the access panel the worker had opened nor numerous other points on the machine were guarded to prevent access. This was contrary to section 24 of Ontario Regulation 851, which states: "where a machine or prime mover or transmission equipment has an exposed moving part that may endanger the safety of any worker, the machine or prime mover or transmission equipment shall be equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevents access to the moving part."

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed in section 24 were carried out. Fine: $50,000.

Worker’s leg broken, ankle dislocated

A receiving department worker at a Sears Canada Inc. store in Kitchener, ON was trying to move a 200 kg air compressor inside a trailer when the compressor and the dolly on which it was riding fell on the worker's leg. The worker suffered a broken leg and dislocated ankle.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that Sears had failed to ensure that items were lifted, carried or moved in a way that did not endanger the safety of any worker. Sears Canada Inc. pleaded guilty to failure to obey section 45 of Ontario Regulation 851. Fine: $75,000.

Worker’s fingers crushed

A European-based manufacturer of prosthetic body parts was fined $55,000 after an incident at its Oakville, Ontario plant crushed an employee’s fingers.

The worker's hand had become trapped in the rollers of a silicone rubber mill. The machine, which kneads blocks of silicone into sheets used to make prosthetic body parts, lacked a proper guarding device.

Otto Bock Health Care Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that measures and procedures prescribed by section 25 of Ontario Regulation 851 were carried out, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Fine: $55,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Fall severs millwright’s spinal cord

Two firms were held responsible for the paralysis of a subcontractor’s employee who fell through an opening at a Cambridge, ON plant.

A millwright employed by Process Group Inc. was walking on platforms between machines used to stack and bundle finished steel for shipping when he fell almost five metres through an opening at the side of the platforms. Part of the worker's spinal cord was severed, resulting in paralysis to his lower body. At the time the worker was wearing neither a safety belt nor a harness.

Process Group Inc. supplies engineering, procurement, construction, and maintenance services to manufacturing plants, process equipment vendors, engineering firms and industrial design builders. The incident occurred at a plant owned by steel recycler Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation. Following the incident, the firm installed temporary flooring in the stacking machine area to eliminate openings while the maintenance work was being performed.

Both firms pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the millwright wore fall arrest equipment, as required by section 85 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Process Group Inc. was fined $90,000; Gerdau Ameristeel Corporation, $170,000.

Driver injured as load shifts

A driver for Source Medical Corporation, a Mississauga, ON-based medical supply company, required treatment for bone fractures and contusions when contents of his truck shifted, pinning him to the floor. At the time, the driver was helping to unload racking components at a construction site.

Source Medical Corp. was fined $65,000 for failing to ensure that materials, articles, or things were moved in such a way that they did not endanger the safety of a worker, as prescribed by section 45 of Ontario Regulation 851—Industrial Establishments.

Two electrical workers burned in CNE incident

Two electrical workers investigating the source of a power loss to a concession stand on the grounds of Toronto’s Canadian National Exhibition suffered second and third degree burns when an explosion set their clothes on fire.

One of the workers had been using a screwdriver to pry a fuse from a switch terminal in an electrical substation. Although he had turned an external switch door handle to the "off" position, the internal switch mechanism was still in the "on" position. When the screwdriver contacted the fuse, a live electrical path triggered an explosion. Neither worker had been provided with nor was wearing any personal protective equipment.

The Board of Governors of Exhibition Place, a City of Toronto board that oversees the downtown Toronto exhibition grounds, was fined $100,000 for failing to ensure the workers were provided with personal protective equipment to protect them from the hazard of electrical shock and burn, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

“Stacker cart” pathway left unguarded

A sawmill worker trying to add wooden boards to a motorized stacker cart, which supplied wooden boards to a press machine, fractured his ankle when it became trapped between the cart and a horizontal track along which the cart ran.

The worker had positioned himself in the cart’s path so that he could add extra boards from a previous press cycle. Boards had jammed up on the production line, leaving the cart short of boards. The incident occurred at an Estate Hardwood Floors Corp. sawmill in Renfrew, ON.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the stacker cart was shielded or equipped with a guarding device to prevent access to moving parts that endangered a worker's safety, as required by section 24 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $60,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Worker dies after failing to follow procedure

An unsupervised worker at a mine near Timmins, ON died after being struck by a wrench while trying to change a large bolt that keeps a drilling bit in place.

The worker, an employee of Boart Longyear Inc., a North Bay, ON-based supplier of drilling products and services to the mining industry, had sought advice from a mechanic on how to remove the bolt, known as a “saver sub nut.” The mechanic provided information, but it was not followed. None of the workers involved had any experience in removing the nut using the suggested procedure, and there was no supervision at the time of the incident.

Following a trial, Boart Longyear Inc. was found guilty and fined $150,000 for failing to provide

• adequate supervision, contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act; and
• proper information and instruction to the deceased worker on the safe removal of the saver sub nut from the drill unit, also contrary to section 25(2)(a).

Driver burned while delivering hot wax

A driver delivering hot liquid wax to Premier Candle Corp. suffered second and third degree burns while detaching pipes used to transfer the wax from his truck to a silo.

The driver was unfamiliar with the silo equipment, and had received no supervision by Premier Candle Corp. on how to load the wax into the silo. Furthermore, there were no

• verbal or written information or instructions on how to safely transfer the hot wax
• identifying marks on the silo valve or attachments indicating open and closed positions, or
• wax flow directions identified on the silo valves, fitting and piping.

After the incident, the company failed to notify the Ministry of Labour. However, the ministry learned of the incident two days later. When officials arrived at the scene, the only evidence was solidified wax near the silo.

Premier Candle Corp. pleaded guilty and was fined $105,000 for failing to

• provide the driver with information, instruction and supervision on the safe loading of the hot liquid wax, contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and
• report the incident to the ministry, as required by section 51(1) of the act.

Unsecured lift truck load kills one

Two workers standing next to a racking system were struck by unsecured aluminum plates being repositioned by a lift truck. One worker died from a massive head injury; the other suffered a laceration to the head, and scrapes to his back and leg.

The plates had not been secured to the their pallet. Additional plates on a lower shelf of the racking system were also unsupported, and consequently unstable. When the forklift truck tried to reposition the load, the aluminum plates tipped forward and slid off the pallet.

The incident occurred at Sunrise Greenhouse Manufacturing Inc. in Kingsville, ON. The firm manufactures greenhouse components.

Sunrise Greenhouse Manufacturing Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the aluminum plates were transported, placed or stored so they would not tip, collapse or fall, as required by section 45(b) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $100,000.

Unguarded pinch point claims three fingers

A worker at a CCL Industries Inc. plant in Penetanguishene, ON lost three fingers when his hand entered the exit door of a scrap compactor machine just as it was ejecting a block of compressed scrap metal. The worker had slipped on a piece of scrap metal and was trying to break his fall.

Although the machine had a guarding device to prevent worker access to the exit door, it was not in place at the time of the incident. The firm, which manufactures pressure-sensitive labels, aluminum containers and plastic tubes, pleaded guilty to failing to prevent access to the pinch point, as required by section 25 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $90,000.

Uncontrolled energy knocks out worker

Unreleased energy in a horizontal spring helped render unconscious a worker at a St. Lawrence Cement Inc. quarry in Acton, ON. The blow to the worker’s head occurred as he was helping to replace a spring located below a "movable table," a rectangular device that uses vibration to move quarry material to equipment for crushing. The worker, who was wearing a hardhat, remained unconscious for two to three minutes.

An investigation found the set-up of equipment used to replace the spring failed because of hydraulic-stored energy created during the spring replacement. The company pleaded guilty to failing to dissipate or contain the energy, as required by section 185(7) of the Regulations for Mines and Mining Plants.

Editor’s Note: if the Regulations for Industrial Establishments apply to your workplace, you can find related lockout and tagout requirements in section 42.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Lift truck crushes driver

Employees beginning a day shift at Royal Alliance Inc., a Woodbridge, ON manufacturer of plastic patio furniture, storage containers, and other products, discovered the body of a worker pinned between his lift truck and a storage rack. The worker had died of brain trauma. His body was found eight hours after his evening shift had ended.

The worker had been placed with Royal Alliance Inc. by Temporary Employment Agency Management Services Inc. (T.E.A.M.). However, he had completed no training on operating his "Raymond Reach Truck," which is operated from a standing position. Three weeks into the job, the worker was tested on the lift truck by a supervisor. The worker scored only five out of 10.

T.E.A.M. pleaded guilty, as an employer, to failing to ensure the worker would only be operating equipment he was hired to operate, and would not be permitted to operate a different piece of equipment without training and testing to ensure competency. Fine: $80,000.

Royal Alliance Inc. pleaded guilty, as an employer, to failing to ensure the worker was competent to operate the lift truck, as required by section 51(2)(a)(i) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $160,000.

Molten metal burns worker twice

A Tonolli Canada Ltd. worker suffered multiple burns after he was splashed by molten metal, and then slipped on it. The Mississauga, ON-based company recycles lead from used batteries.

The worker had just deposited a pot containing the molten metal in a cooling area, and was reversing his lift truck when the pot exploded. While on his way to an emergency shower wash station, the worker slipped. He received third degree burns to both legs, second degree burns to the back of his neck, and second and third degree burns to his left palm.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the worker wore protective boots and leggings or other protective clothing so that the tops of the boots were overlapped to protect the worker from injury due to molten metal, as required by section 93 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $80,000.

Worker dies under 800-kg loading dock leveller

A worker at the Don Mills, ON site of dairy producer and supplier Natrel Inc. was killed while trying to repair a loading dock leveller.

The leveller in question is an 800-kg steel platform that can be raised or lowered to act as a bridge between a loading dock and a vehicle. At the time of the incident, the worker was bending down at the leveller’s base. An investigation found that the leveller had been neither properly secured nor blocked. Furthermore, the worker had received neither procedures nor training on how to safely repair the device from the manufacturer, J.H. Secord Enterprises Limited.

J.H. Secord Enterprises Limited pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the vertical dock leveller was secured against tipping or falling, as required by section 46 of the Regulations for Industrial
Establishments. Fine: $95,000.

Pinch point damages worker’s hand

A worker using a rag to clean a glue machine, which applies glue or resin to materials, suffered serious hand injuries, including severe damage to a thumb, when the rag got caught in the machine’s moving rollers. The rollers pulled the worker’s right hand and wrist into the machine. The incident occurred at a Glendale International Corp. plant in Strathroy, ON. The plant manufactures motor homes and trailers.

Glendale International Corp. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure an in-running nip hazard on the glue machine was guarded by a device that prevented access to the pinch point, as required by section 25 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $75,000.

No guard on brake press

A worker at J.S.W. Manufacturing Inc., a Bracebridge, ON custom metal fabrication and welding plant, suffered a serious injury when a 71-centimetre-long piece of steel sprang up from his brake press machine and struck him at the base of his nose.

The welder was using the brake press to put slight bends in the piece of steel. The piece struck him as he activated the brake press, bringing an upper die down onto a lower die. There was no guarding device to protect the worker while the steel was being processed.

J.S.W. Manufacturing Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the brake press machine was shielded or guarded so the steel being processed did not endanger the safety of a worker, as required by section 26 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $50,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Workers handle asbestos without proper PPE

While workers for London, Ontario-based Tornado Insulation Limited were removing insulation and other materials at a Suncor Energy Products Inc. ethanol refinery in Sarnia, concern arose over the presence of asbestos.

The employer immediately sent samples for testing, and received confirmation the same day. However, it failed to ensure workers wore appropriate equipment after the concern was raised, and after asbestos was confirmed. Furthermore, as constructor, Suncor failed to notify the Ministry of Labour.

Following an investigation, Suncor pleaded guilty to failing to

• report the discovery of friable material, as required by section 7(6) of the Regulations for Asbestos on Construction Projects and in Buildings and Repair Operations, and
• ensure workers were provided with protective equipment, including a positive pressure, full-face-piece respirator for a Type 3 asbestos removal, as required by section 14(5)(viii) of the Regulations for Asbestos on Construction Projects and in Buildings and Repair Operations.

Suncor was fined $25,000 on the first count and $100,000 on the second count. Tornado Insulation Limited pleaded guilty, as an employer, to failing to ensure workers were provided with the required protective equipment. Fine: $50,000.

Two workers injured when vapours ignite

Two employees of Acapulco Pools Limited, a swimming pool contractor based in Kitchener, Ontario, suffered burns and broken left legs following an explosion on the site of a kiddie pool under construction. One of the two workers had been using a propane torch to remove ice from a pipe.

An investigation attributed the explosion to the ignition of solvent cement or primer vapours in the pipe. The two products were used to connect joints in the pool’s piping system. Product and manufacturer warnings for both the primer and solvent cement instructed users to keep them away from ignition sources because they and their vapours were highly flammable.

Acapulco Pools Limited pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the solvent cement and primer and/or their vapours were not exposed to an ignition source, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Employer fine: $50,000.

Poor communication kills

A worker for Elmira, Ontario-based Sittler Environmental Inc. was crushed under an excavator while supervising the removal and grinding of vegetation on a road construction site.

Loud noise from a grinder had forced the supervisor and the excavator operator to rely on eye contact and hand signals. After the operator indicated his intention to place a log into the grinder, he proceeded to move the excavator into position. On hearing a scream, the operator saw the supervisor underneath the excavator’s right track. The supervisor died later in hospital.

During an investigation, the Ministry of Labour found the workers had no standardized system of communication. Sittler Environmental Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to take the reasonable precaution of establishing and maintaining an adequate, standardized system of communication between workers on the site, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the act. Fine: $95,000.

Dust explosion burns two

Two workers checking out smoke coming from a dust collection “baghouse” suffered minor burns when an explosion occurred. The incident occurred at a Northern Sawmills Inc. facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

A baghouse is a building that bags dust collected from sawmill planer machines. Although a fire on a planer had already been extinguished, a spark is believed to have travelled through the dust collection system to the baghouse.

Following a trial, Northern Sawmills Inc. was found guilty of failing to

• ensure there was a spark detection or spark suppression system in the dust collection system between the planer and bag house
• ensure the workers were not working at or near the baghouse's blast doors, and
• provide information, instruction and supervision to the two workers to protect their health and safety in dealing with a possible explosion in the baghouse.

The company was fined $60,000 on the first count and $20,000 on the second count.

Worker dies after pushing wrong button

A worker adjusting a crating machine died after inadvertently pushing a button that closed the machine on him. Cause of death was attributed to a combination of asphyxiation and blunt force trauma due to crushing.

The worker was an employee of Leggett & Platt Canada Co., a Toronto-based firm operating as Globe Spring and Cushion Co. Ltd. The company makes inner spring units for mattresses. He had been loading the crating machine with mattress coils, and is believed to have decided to adjust the opening so as to pack more coils. Although a guarding device protected the controls, they were still accessible from inside the machine. While adjusting the machine while inside it, the worker hit a button that closes it, instead of a button that opens it.

Leggett & Platt Canada Co. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the machine’s operating controls were located where worker safety was not endangered by moving spring units, as required by section 28(a) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $100,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

When the MOL won’t go away

A Premier Fitness Clubs Inc. facility in Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre incurred $50,000 in fines after repeatedly failing to comply with work orders issued under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The club’s general manager was also fined $25,000.

The Ministry of Labour had issued work orders following a series of inspections. After the club refused to act on a number of the orders, the ministry responded with stop work orders, and took the club to court. Premier Fitness Clubs (Yorkdale) Inc. was found guilty of failing to

• set up and maintain a joint health and safety committee
• ensure the committee met at least once every three months
• ensure a worker member inspected the club at least once a month, and
• ensure an eyewash station was installed in a chemical pool room posing a potential hazard of an eye injury.

A justice of the peace fined the club $20,000 on the first count and $10,000 on each additional count. The justice also imposed a two-year probation order requiring the club to establish a safety committee and to provide the ministry with committee members’ names, copies of committee minutes, and the committee's monthly workplace inspection reports.

The club's general manager was found guilty of

• obstructing a ministry inspector by advising he would not answer any questions, and by ordering the inspector to leave the club
• obstructing the inspector by calling shopping centre mall security staff to remove the inspector
• providing false information regarding the number of people employed at the club, and
• failing to ensure the club complied with a stop work order.

The justice of the peace fined the general manager $10,000 on the first count and $5,000 on each of the other counts.

Lift truck driver crushed under metal hopper

A young worker sustained fatal injuries while using a lift truck to empty the contents of a heavy waste metal hopper into a dumpster. Eastway, a Pembroke, Ontario company that refurbishes buses and trucks, required workers to empty the hopper by leaving the seat of the forklift and pulling a short chain. This procedure left the lift truck controls unattended.

The injured worker was found under the hopper basket, which contained 800 kilograms of waste. The lift truck was found on its side.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that a lifting device was operated in such a way that when its load was in a raised position its controls were attended by an operator, as required by section 51(2)(b)(iii) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $135,000.

“Wind-up” machine catches worker’s arm

A worker at Cambridge, Ontario’s Canadian General-Tower Limited, a manufacturer of coated fabrics and films for automotive, pool, roofing and environmental containment industries, received serious hand and arm injuries when his arm became entangled in a machine that transfers scrap vinyl from a large roll onto a smaller roll.

Although the wind-up machine had several safeguards, including motion sensors, speed controls and brakes, they did not prevent the worker from gaining access to a pinch point. The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure an in-running nip hazard on the wind-up machine was equipped with, and guarded by, a device preventing access to the pinch point, as required by section 25 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $70,000.

Worker makes fatal contact with electrical panel

An energy management systems technician electrocuted himself while troubleshooting a cooling system problem in a Collingwood, Ontario high school.

The technician, who was working alone, is believed to have fallen into or unintentionally touched a high-voltage electrical panel energized with 110 to 600 volts of power. He had been accessing two nearby low-voltage panels with a laptop computer.

An investigation revealed that the Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board had procedures for locking out live power sources before performing maintenance work. However, these procedures neither detailed in writing when personal protective equipment was required for work near live power, nor warn all workers of the hazards of working near live power.

The school board pleaded guilty to failing to take the reasonable precaution of having sufficient procedures for working safely on or near live power. Fine: $100,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Worker falls while straddling two cranes

A crane operator at Welded Tube of Canada in Concord, Ontario suffered fatal injuries in a fall sustained while trying to access one crane’s controls from another crane. The worker, who had been physically extended between the two cranes, fell when they began to separate.

The firm is a general partnership that manufactures tubular steel. The partners pleaded guilty to failing to implement and maintain a safe procedure for the operation of an unoccupied crane, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Fine: $120,000.

Temp service fork lift driver collides with steel post

A Kelly Services (Canada) Ltd. employee working for Exel Canada Ltd., which provides warehousing and logistics services, injured his head and pelvis when the counterbalance lift truck he was driving collided with a steel post. The driver became trapped between the truck and the post.

The worker was operating the lift truck at an Exel client's warehouse. An investigation determined that the worker had no previous experience with lift trucks, and Exel had not checked his references to ensure he had the necessary experience.

Exel Canada Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing to check the qualifications of the worker to operate a lift truck, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Fine: $80,000.

Worker loses fingers in guarding incident

A Columbia Forest Products Ltd. worker trying to straighten a crooked board in a plywood press had two fingers amputated after two other workers, including a shift foreman, initiated the press cycle. The incident occurred at the firm’s plywood and particleboard mill in Hearst, Ontario.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the outfeed end of the press, where the first worker was trying to straighten the board, lacked a guarding device to prevent access to the moving press plates.

The firm pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the press was equipped with and guarded by a device to prevent access to moving parts, as required by section 24 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $125,000.

Transfer hose sprays worker with sulphuric acid

A hose that had just been detached from a railway tank car sprayed a Falconbridge Limited worker with sulphuric acid, burning his face, arms and neck. The incident occurred at the Kidd Metallurgical Site in Timmins, where sulphuric acid is produced as a by-product of the metal extraction process.

The worker had been transferring the acid from one tank car to another, and detached the hose thinking he had completely depressurized the source tank. However, he had used an inadequate method to test the pressure level.

Following a trial, Falconbridge Limited was found guilty of failing to ensure the pressurized tank was drained before the hose was detached from the first railway tank car, as required by section 56(b) of the Regulations for Mines and Mining Plants. Fine: $50,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Guarding device bypassed

A worker at Vincor International Inc., a Niagara Falls, Ontario wine producer, suffered a broken fingertip and lacerations and bruising to both hands while trying to clear a jam on a conveyor belt.

The worker was operating an "uncaser machine" when his hands became entangled in the belt. An uncaser machine opens the bottom flaps of cartons suspended above a conveyor belt so that empty wine bottles can drop onto the conveyor for filling. He was able to access the belt because an interlock system on the machine had been set to a bypass position. To compound the hazard, the worker had not locked out the machine before trying to clear the jam.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that control switches or other control mechanisms were locked out, and other necessary precautions were taken, as required by section 76 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Employer fine: $50,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Injured worker waits as supervisor struggles

An employee of Meritor Suspension Systems Company in Milton, Ontario whose foot became trapped in a conveyor had to wait as his supervisor raced to shut it off. The worker had been greasing bearings when the conveyor snagged his foot and pulled it in. He suffered injuries to the left leg and foot, including the loss of the top of the big toe, a crushed bone above the ankle, and a puncture wound.

The supervisor first tried to shut off the conveyor’s power switch, about 25 metres away, but protective gates blocked access. The supervisor then tried an emergency stop button two metres away, which had no effect. Finally, the supervisor pulled a disconnect switch on a main panel located 25 metres away.

A Ministry of Labour investigation determined that

• the conveyor, situated in an open and unguarded pit area, was running and not locked out at the time
• the conveyor did not have to be running for its bearings to be greased, and
• the company had no written procedures for locking out the conveyor during the maintenance work being done at the time.

MSS Holdings Limited pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the conveyor was adequately locked out during preventative maintenance, as required by section 75 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. The company was fined $90,000.

Worker falls into empty elevator shaft

Unlocked doors to a decommissioned elevator contributed to the falling death of a worker hired to paint doors and trim in the ground-floor loading dock area of a downtown Toronto office building. The worker fell into the empty elevator shaft, suffered a serious head injury, and died in hospital the next day.

The painter was one of three independent contractors hired by Trade Services Inc. on behalf of the property manager, GWL Realty Advisors Inc.

A double set of doors to the elevator shaft had a dead-bolt lock and was usually kept locked. However, A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the doors did not appear to have been forced, and the painter did not have access to a key. The ministry also found no guardrail in the elevator shaft doorway, and no signs on or near the doors warning of the decommissioned elevator.

Following a trial, Trade Services Inc. was found guilty of failing to

• seek, obtain and provide information on the existence of potential hazards, and/or
• train its supervisors to seek, obtain and provide information on the existence of potential hazards.

In a related court appearance last year, GWL Realty Advisors Inc. was fined $300,000 for failing
to

• provide and install guardrails on the interior side of the elevator shaft's doors
• provide and post warning signs
• control access to keys
• ensure security measures were enough to prevent the elevator shaft's doors from being opened, and/or
• provide information to all workers on the existence of doors to the elevator shaft.

Pallet pusher breaks worker’s leg

A worker trying to clear a jam in a racking system suffered a broken leg when struck by a pallet pusher. The incident occurred at a Rainbow Concrete Industries Limited facility in Sudbury, Ontario.

The system was connected to a bulk bagger, a machine that weighs and bags concrete. The pallet pusher moves single pallets of bagged cement out of the racking system onto a rolling conveyor system. According to investigation results, the pallet was improperly sized for the racking system, causing the pallet to skew and jam the bulk bagger machine.

Rainbow Concrete Industries Limited pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the worker was provided with information, instruction and supervision on the bulk bagger's safe operation, contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Employer fine: $45,000.

Front-end loaders free worker from conveyor

A worker trapped under a conveyor system had to be airlifted to hospital after front-end loaders temporarily raised the system to free him.

The conveyor, at a gravel pit owned by Thunder Bay-based Hacquoil Construction Limited, had already been attached to a front-end loader in preparation for moving when the rigging system came loose. The worker was under the conveyor trying to move electrical cable.

Hacquoil Construction Limited pleaded guilty to failing to ensure hooks used to suspend the conveyor were not choked or equipped with a safety latch, as required by section 81 of the Regulations for Mines and Mining Plants. This was contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Employer fine: $50,000.

Machine amputates operator’s fingertip

A worker operating a drill and tap machine lost the tip of a middle finger when a drill and tap machine’s ram/cylinder descended on it. The worker was an employee of Vineland Manufacturing Limited, a Beamsville, Ontario-based manufacturer of rail cars chassis and driveline components.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the machine had been operating properly. However, it lacked a guard or other device to block access to a pinch point between the ram/cylinder and the material under production.

Vineland Manufacturing Limited pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the machine was equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device to prevent access to the pinch point. Employer fine: $60,000.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Silo cleaner trapped for 14 hours

When encrusted material in a plugged silo gave way, a worker hired to help clean the silo became trapped in a funnel-shaped opening.

The worker had been standing on encrusted material in a “clinker bin” at a Federal White Cement facility in Embro, Ontario, near Woodstock. A clinker bin is a large bin, or silo, containing crushed limestone and other materials used to make cement. While trying to remove material above him, the worker slipped into a funnel-shaped opening that had suddenly appeared. Although he was wearing fall protection, loose material wedged the worker chest deep into the opening. The worker, an employee of Universal Silo Services Incorporated, remained trapped until emergency responders were able to release him 14 hours later. He suffered no significant injuries.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that two co-workers below had been using an air lance to break up material on which the worker was standing.

Universal Silo Services Incorporated pleaded guilty to failing to provide information, instruction and supervision to the worker to protect his health and safety, contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Federal White Cement pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the bin was cleaned only when motion that may endanger a worker was stopped, as required by section 75(a) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Each company was fined $40,000.

Lift truck rolls, killing untrained driver

An employer that failed to enforce an “authorized drivers only” policy was fined $90,000 following the crushing death of a worker.

Eugenio (Gino) Lucibello, 62, was driving a lift truck without authorization when the incident occurred. As the lift truck's front wheel rode up on a curb, the vehicle began to tilt towards the driver's side. The load then swung on the vehicle’s forks, causing it to tip. Lucibello could not leap free in time, and was crushed beneath the vehicle.

Lucibello had not been trained in the use of a lift truck. However, his employer, Filtervac International Inc. in Breslau, Ontario, neither strictly enforced its own rule that only trained workers were allowed to operate the lift trucks, nor controlled access to lift truck keys.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the lift truck was operated only by authorized workers, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Worker falls after being struck

A worker for All Fair Investment and Enterprises Limited, operating as a wood flooring manufacturer called Erie Flooring and Wood Products in West Lorne, Ontario, was struck by part of a fibre sling and cable winch system. The force of the blow knocked the worker into an open pit next to a wood kiln. The worker suffered several injuries, including a broken neck vertebra.

The worker had been helping to unload dried lumber from the kiln when a hook slipped off a kiln truck being used to move the lumber. The hook, part of a mechanism for pulling lumber out of the kiln, struck the worker in the leg, causing him to fall.

According to a Ministry of Labour investigation, the raised kiln was surrounded by a 1.65 metre deep pit containing heating pipes and coils. Some grating was placed overtop, but not enough to cover the entire opening. The set-up also lacked guardrails.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure a guardrail was installed around the pit, as required by section 13 of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments. Fine: $80,000.

Pressure blows valve

While municipal workers in Carleton Place, Ontario were conducting a pressure test on a new watermain chamber, a test pipe assembly suddenly dislodged from a "mainstop" (a brass valve) and struck one worker on the head. The blow knocked the worker unconscious. The incident occurred at a construction project involving road, sewer and watermain reconstruction.

A Ministry of Labour investigation identified several factors that contributed to the incident:

• the mainstop was missing a stainless steel gripper. This reduced the mainstop’s grip on the test assembly's copper pipe.
• the mainstop was not properly adjusted, which also reduced its grip on the test assembly.
• use of hard copper in the test pipe assembly may also have compromised the grip.
• the location of a pressure gauge midway up the test pipe assembly was hazardous. To take a reading, a worker would have to look straight down at the test pipe assembly.
• the Town of Carleton Place had failed to conduct a hazard assessment and develop appropriate safe procedures, including the use of suitable equipment, before conducting the pressure test.

The Corporation of the Town of Carleton Place pleaded guilty to failing to develop and implement safe procedures for pressure testing a watermain, contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Fine: $110,000.

Worker injured after fall from ladder

Falling off an extension ladder led to head, chest and back injuries for a worker, and a $50,000 fine for his employer.

The worker, an employee of Aurora Overhead Door Inc., in Aurora, Ontario, was on a 7.3-metre extension ladder adjusting a newly-installed overhead door and putting weather stripping around the frame when he slipped and fell to the floor below. The worker was not wearing fall protection.

Aurora Overhead Door Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the worker wore fall protection where there was a risk of falling more than three metres, as required by section 26.1(2) of the Regulations for Construction Projects.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour

Unsecured loads injure workers

In two separate incidents, workers were injured while unloading a truck and a boxcar. Employer fines: $80,000 and $65,000.

Ikea Holdings Canada Limited, part of the international Ikea home furnishings chain, was fined $80,000 for two violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act following an incident in which products that fell off skids broke a worker’s leg.

Two workers at an Ikea store in Burlington, Ontario were unloading a trailer in a shipping/receiving area when the incident occurred. Afterward, two other workers removed the remainder of the load.

Six hours lapsed before Ikea notified the Ministry of Labour. By this time the trailer had been emptied and was no longer on the premises. However, an employee had taken several photographs of the scene and video footage was available.

A ministry investigation attributed the incident in part to carpets and door mats on top of other products on the skids, and insecure storage of part of the load. Ikea pleaded guilty to failing to

• ensure the load was stored in a manner so as to prevent tipping, collapsing or falling, as required by section 45(b) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments, and
• preserve the scene of the incident, contrary to section 51(2) of the act.

Ikea was fined $70,000 on the first count and $10,000 on the second count.

Velcan Forest Products Inc., an Oshawa, Ontario-based lumber wholesaler, was fined $65,000 following an incident in which a worker helping to unload a boxcar was pinned to the floor by about 680 kilograms of plywood. The worker suffered multiple fractures, including a broken lower right arm and ribs.

Velcan Forest Products Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the lumber was removed from the boxcar in a manner that did not endanger the worker, as required by section 45(c) of the Regulations for Industrial Establishments.

No guarding device, no instructions

A worker lost four fingers the day after a shearing machine’s guarding device had been removed. Employer fine: $62,500.

The employee of Accurax Manufacturing Inc., a Brampton, Ontario-based manufacturer of racks and other storage system components, was operating the shearing machine to cut metal sheets. At one point the worker's hand got caught close to the blade, which came down and amputated four fingers on the right hand.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that a guarding device which would have prevented access to the blade had been removed the day before. The ministry also found Accurax had not provided adequate supervision or proper instruction to the worker on how to operate the shearing machine with proper safety guards.

Accurax Manufacturing Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect his health and safety, as required by section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Worker dies after disabling machine guard

Hardeep Singh Mann, operator of a machine that compressed old cardboard boxes into bundles, died after becoming trapped in the machine. Mann worked at an Alberta bottle depot called the Bottle Bin, which was owned by a numbered company, 425167 Alberta Ltd.

In a recent court appearance, the owners of 425167 Alberta Ltd. offered almost $200,000 for safety education and a scholarship fund.

A government investigation found that before the incident someone—likely Mann—had disabled a safety switch that lowers a protective barrier. The owners were away at the time, but later pleaded guilty to failing to ensure a machine was maintained in a safe manner.

Sometime after the incident and before their appearance in court, the owners sold the assets of Bottle Bin and retired, rendering it a virtual shell company. According to the owners’ lawyer, David Myrol, Bottle Bin had generated only enough revenue to cover the owners’ salary, plus wages for three full-time and two part-time employees.

Myrol and prosecutor Danny Lynn negotiated a deal in which the owners will pay the government a $5,000 fine, donate over $97,000 to the Job Safety Skills Society for safety training, and an equal amount to a scholarship in Mann’s name for students in Northern Alberta Institute of Technology's Mechanical Engineering Technology quality management program.

Source: The Edmonton Journal, December 8, 2006.

Worker injured after fall from ladder

Falling off an extension ladder led to head, chest and back injuries for a worker, and a $50,000 fine for his employer.

The worker, an employee of Aurora Overhead Door Inc., in Aurora, Ontario, was on a 7.3-metre extension ladder adjusting a newly-installed overhead door and putting weather stripping around the frame when he slipped and fell to the floor below. The worker was not wearing any fall protection.

Aurora Overhead Door Inc. pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the worker wore fall protection equipment where there was a risk of falling more than three metres, as required by section 26.1(2) of the Regulations for Construction Projects.

Source files: unless otherwise indicated, Ontario Ministry of Labour