Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
A meat processing plant in Ajax has pleaded guilty and fined $82,500 for two separate incidents in which workers suffered hand injuries.
D & S Meat Products Ltd., operating as Elite Meats, operates a facility at 220 Clements Road in Ajax. On May 26, 2014, a worker was assigned the task of loading frozen blocks of meat into a grinder machine. One block was too frozen to be drawn into the grinder machine by the rotating feedscrew. When the worker pushed down on the block of meat, the meat suddenly moved and the worker’s hand was pulled down into the hopper toward the feedscrew. As a result, the worker suffered a partial amputation.
A Ministry of Labour investigation determined that the grinder machine was not equipped with a guard to prevent access to the rotating feedscrew at the time of the incident. As such, D & S failed as an employer to ensure the grinder machine’s exposed moving part was equipped with a guard, contrary to Ontario’s Industrial Establishments Regulation and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
On July 7, 2015, a worker at the facility attempted to replace a plug underneath a corkscrew conveyor attached to a meat grinder machine. The corkscrew conveyor was not stopped, turned off or locked out at the time.
Before the worker attempted to replace the plug in the bottom of the corkscrew conveyor, the worker tried to clean out the plug hole where ground meat had been exiting. In so doing, the worker’s hand made contact with the rotating screw auger of the corkscrew conveyor. As a result, the worker suffered amputations.
The Ministry of Labour investigation determined that at the time of the incident, the corkscrew conveyor was not stopped, turned off or locked out as required. The investigation also determined that no written safety procedures for the corkscrew conveyor existed, and the grinder machine operator had not been trained on the proper use and function of the control panel for the corkscrew conveyor.
As such, D & S failed as an employer to ensure that the motion of a screw auger in a corkscrew conveyor was stopped before a worker attempted to replace a plug at the base of the corkscrew conveyor, contrary to the Industrial Establishments Regulation and the OHSA. In this incident the company also failed as an employer to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker on the proper use and function of the control panel for the corkscrew conveyor at the workplace, contrary to the OHSA.
The company was fined a total of $82,500 for the three offences by Justice of the Peace John MacDonald in Whitby provincial court on May 19, 2016.
In addition to the fines, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
My opinion
The law(s) in contravention:
D&S Meat Products Ltd. was found guilty of a contravention of Ontario ‘Industrial’ Regulation 851/90, section 24 which states,
“Where a machine has an exposed moving part that may endanger the safety of any worker, the machine shall be equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevents access to the moving part.”
D&S Meat Products Ltd. was also found guilty of a contravention of the same regulation, section 75 which states,
“A part of a machine, transmission machinery, device or thing shall be cleaned, oiled, adjusted, repaired or have maintenance work performed on it only when,
(a) motion that may endanger a worker has stopped; and
(b) any part that has been stopped and that may subsequently move and endanger a worker has been blocked to prevent its movement.”
The Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) was also contravened. Below are the two sections D&S Meat Products Ltd. was found in contravention.
Section 25, subsection 2(a) which states,
“An employer shall,
- provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health or safety of the worker.”
Section 25, subsection 1(c) which states,
“An employer shall ensure that,
- the measures and procedures prescribed are carried out in the workplace.”
A completed hazard or risk assessment would have recognized that “Machine Guarding” was a necessary component and that lockout and tagout is also necessary to complete this type of process effectively and safely.
The hazard assessment would have also driven a set of written instructions as part of the ‘Due Diligence’ guidelines as demanded under the OHSA, section 25, subsection 2(h) which states,
“An employer shall,
(h) take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker.”
Remember – In Ontario, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”
HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs including ‘Due Diligence’, ‘Machine Guarding’, ‘Maintenance Hazard Awareness’ and ‘Standard Operating Procedures’. Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259.
‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.
Daniel L. Beal
CHSEP – Advanced Level
VP & Senior Trainer
HRSGroup Inc.