Two employers charged after workers were burned in steel plant

The Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development has laid charges against two employers nearly a year after two workers died from being burned by steam while working in the workplace.

Stelco and John Kenyon Ltd. were charged under the Occupational Health and Safety Act against both companies on June 14, according to a CBC report.

The incident happened on April 25, 2023, when Gabriel Cabral and Sean MacPherson were repairing steel cladding on a quench tower, a structure used for cooling hot coke used in the steelmaking process.

Cabral died on May 16 that year, while MacPherson held on until he died in November 2023, CBC reported.

Stelco was charged:
 

• For failing to ensure that “the quench/mogul car was under the direct control of an operator who could ensure that the quench tower was free of workers before proceeding to quench the hot coke,” the ministry said, according to the report.
  Related to the second count, "the defendant failed to ensure that adequate lunch and/or break periods were scheduled for the quenching process, to ensure that the quenching process did not take place while workers were performing work on the quench tower."
• For failing to ensure the measures and procedures were carried out. "The defendant failed to ensure the mogul/quench car was equipped with a device that enabled the operator to stop the car in an emergency," said the ministry.
• For failing to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker. 

John Kenyon Ltd. was charged with the same set of charges except one. While Stelco was charged with failing to ensure measures and procedures were carried out property, John Kenyon was charged with failing to ensure that equipment, materials, and protective devices as prescribed were provided. 

"The defendant failed to ensure a worker wore or used such personal protective equipment, clothing and devices as were necessary to protect the worker from the hot steam hazard to which the worker was exposed,” the ministry said, according to the report.

The two employers will make their first court appearance for the case on Sept. 6 in Cayuga.