Worker steps got caught in in-floor auger system
An Ontario employer and a temporary help agency were each fined after a worker was injured by an in-floor auger system at work.
Following a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice, Stratford, West End Mfg. Inc. was fined $55,000 and Liiman Employment Inc. was fined $75,000 by Justice of the Peace Michele Thompson.
They must also pay 25 per cent victim fine surcharges as required by the Provincial Offences Act, to be credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
The incident happened on May 25, 2023.
A temporary foreign worker employed by Liiman Employment was assigned to work at the powder-coating facility owned by West End Mfg. Inc.
The facility has a paint shop with booths for sandblasting, powder-coating and baking metal. In the sandblasting booth, there is an auger system that collects sand particles in a trough in the floor. The troughs have metal grates to prevent access to the augers.
On the day of the incident, one of the metal bars over the trough containing the centre auger was damaged beyond repair and it was removed, leaving a hazardous gap in the floor.
During their shift, the temporary worker stepped through the gap in the floor, and got caught in the moving auger. The worker suffered serious injuries.
The Ontario government noted that West End Mfg. failed to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed under section 24 of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments were carried out at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Meanwhile, Liiman Employment failed as an employer to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker, contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Act.
“Because the machine was not guarded to prevent access to the exposed moving part, West End Mfg. Inc. failed, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 24 of Ontario Regulation 851, were carried out in the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the Ontario government.
“Liiman Employment Inc., failed as an employer to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker with respect to safely working around augers in the sand blasting booth at West End Mfg Inc., contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Act,” the provincial government continued.
