Employer charged six-figure sum over clothing violations
Ontario employer Skyjack Inc., a manufacturer of elevating work platforms, has been fined $100,000 for an incident that resulted in one worker suffering serious burns while at work.
The company must also pay aa 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act, to be credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
The incident took place on Dec. 12, 2019, when the company employed a certified welder.
While the worker was welding an assembly, a spark from the welding process fell into the pocket of the worker’s denim apron.
As a result, the worker’s clothing caught fire and the worker suffered serious burns.
“The denim apron and coveralls that the worker was wearing were found to have several failures,” according to the Ontario government. “This is contrary to section 84(e) of Regulation 851, R.R.O 1990 as amended.”
Recently, Saskatchewan employer Premium Brands Operating GP Inc. was fined $71,429 after an incident that left one worker seriously injured. Also, Fine Choice Foods Ltd. in Richmond, B.C. was fined $165,714.50 after one of its workers was seriously injured in an incident involving a noodle machine.
Workers doing welding work must wear fire or flame resistant clothing and aprons, according to the Centre for Canadian Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS).
This protects against heat, fires, burns and radiation, it said.
Numerous workers were also hurt in incidents involving fire or flames in the past.
Earlier this year, the remains of four people were found at the site of a large explosion and fire at a tanker truck manufacturing facility in Ottawa.
A metal shredder operator died in a warehouse fire in Quebec.
A total of 16 military personnel were injured during the explosion and fire at the Canadian Forces Base Comox, also known as 19 Wing Comox, on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
There had also been those who got hurt in incidents involving electricity.
An Ontario employer was fined $85,000 after a worker suffered a critical injury. The worker was connecting electrical cables located in the main electrical switchboard at the project, an electrical explosion occurred, critically injuring the worker.
Also, a worker for trucking company Le Groupe Neault was killed in an electrocution accident in Trois-Rivières, QC, on July 23, 2019.
