Three workers have died at Hamilton plant in the same period
Inspectors from Ontario’s Ministry of Labour visited National Steel Car’s (NSC) Hamilton plant a total of 221 times from June 1, 2017, to June 9, 2022.
These visits were for proactive inspections and in response to accidents and worker complaints about health and safety issues, according to a report from the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS).
These visits were never more frequent than between June 2021 and June 2022, when inspectors visited the worksite 75 times and issued 78 orders to the company.
Despite all these inspections, 51-year-old Quoc Le died at NCS’s facility on Kenilworth Avenue in Hamilton on June 6 this year. The worker died after a bulkhead weighing approximately 2,000 pounds fell on him at the plant.
Emergency services were called to the scene and paramedics found him without vital signs. The Ministry of Labour and Coroner's Office are investigating the incident.
Following the incident, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 7135 called for a criminal negligence probe into the company.
“We are devastated and angry that there has been another preventable fatality at National Steel Car," said union president Frank Crowder in a statement.
Crowder noted that two other workers have also died on the job at the plant since 2020.
“This amounts to criminal negligence and our union is calling for a criminal investigation.”
Before June ended, three Ontario MPPs from the Hamilton and Niagara regions pushed for “concrete and meaningful” action into recent workplace deaths at the NSC plant.
New Democrat MPPs Andrea Horwath (Hamilton Centre), Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) and Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) signed a letter calling for Ontario Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development Monte McNaughton to meet with the union for workers at NSC. The MPPs also called for a fast-tracked investigation into the fatalities.
In their letter to the minister, the MPPs talked about Quoc Le’s death, stating that “this needless death is just the latest in a string of workplace fatalities at the same company over the past two years.”
Meanwhile, the Ontario Ministry of Labour is also investigating after a worker died while on the job at the Algoma Steel property in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The worker was found unresponsive with fatal injuries on June 3.
