Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
A worker suffered critical injuries after a bread machine activated while the worker was performing maintenance work on the machine.
The accident happened at the Ace Bakery’s food processing plant at 580 Secretariat Court, Mississauga, Ontario on August 08, 2017.
A worker was performing maintenance work on a bread machine at the workplace. The guillotine knife on the machine needed to be adjusted so that the knife would cut the dough evenly. The work was being performed in the presence of a supervisor and a senior director of product development.
In order to access the relevant portion of the machinery, the worker first opened a safety gate. This gate is interlocked so that when it is opened, the machinery cannot be activated or started.
The worker then opened the doors to a mechanical cabinet on the machine in order to access mechanical components to make the adjustments. These cabinet doors were not equipped with interlocks and the worker did not activate the emergency stop button, shut down or lock out the machinery.
While the worker and the senior director of product development were making the adjustments in the mechanical cabinet, the supervisor closed the interlocked safety gate. This caused the bread machine to activate and cycle.
The worker received crushing injuries while caught between one of the machine’s moving parts and the frame of the bread machine. The machine was stopped and the worker was taken to hospital for treatment.
Ace Bakery failed as an employer to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 76 of Ontario Regulation 851 were carried out at the project contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Following a guilty plea, the company was fined $55,000 by Justice of the Peace Helena Cassano in provincial offences court in Mississauga; Crown Counsel Jai Dhar.
The court also 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:
Ace Bakeries was found guilty of a contravention of the Ontario ‘Industrial’ regulation 851/90, section 76 which states,
“Where the starting of a machine, transmission machinery, device or thing may endanger the safety of a worker,
(a) control switches or other control mechanisms shall be locked out; and
(b) other effective precautions necessary to prevent any starting shall be taken.”
Ace Bakeries was also found guilty of a contravention of the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), section 25, subsection 1(c) which states,
“An employer shall ensure that,
(c) the measures and procedures prescribed are carried out in the workplace.”
Lockout and tagout is a very necessary course for any sector of today’s workplace. Construction, Healthcare, Mining and Industrial require information pertaining to Lockout and Tagout.
IT IS THAT IMPORTANT!
Ensure your workplace is a safe place.
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’, ‘Lockout and Tagout’ 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
HRS Group Inc.
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