Equipment was not properly guarded
Lexsuco 2010 Corporation was fined $60,000 after a worker suffered injuries when a cutting tool caught on a piece of copper that then struck the worker. The Montreal company manufactures and distributes commercial roofing products throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. The incident occurred May 31, 2016 at its Mississauga, Ont. workplace. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
A worker was trimming a large copper disc on a lathe. The worker was spinning a large copper disc to create a flashing hub approximately 2 inches in length. This hub would be used to connect flat roof drains to downspouts.
As the worker was attempting to trim the outer edge of the disc with a cutting tool, the cutting tool caught on the copper, tearing a large piece of copper off the copper disc (called a swarf). The swarf hit the worker, who suffered injuries.
The subsequent Ministry of Labour investigation found that, at the time of the injury, the spin area on the lathe was not guarded or shielded to protect the worker from the swarf as required by the Industrial Establishments Regulation (Ontario Regulation 851/90).
As such, Lexsuco committed the offence of failing, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 26 of the regulation were carried out in the workplace contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The company failed to ensure that the lathe was shielded or guarded so that the product or material being processed or the waste stock will not endanger the safety of any worker.
Source: Ontario Ministry of Labour
