Excerpt from the Government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
Asia Pulp & Paper (Canada) Ltd., a Toronto manufacturer of pulp and paper products, was fined $60,000 on June 09, 2009 for a single violation under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHSA) after a worker was seriously injured.
On November 5, 2007, at the company’s Brampton facility, a worker was loading skids onto a truck parked at a loading bay. While the worker was on a forklift inside the truck, the truck rolled forward about five metres from the loading bay. The worker reversed off the truck and fell, with the forklift, to the ground below.
A Ministry of Labour (MOL) investigation found that the wheels of the truck were not chocked to prevent it from rolling.
Asia Pulp and Paper (Canada) Ltd., pleaded guilty under the OHSA to failing, as an employer, to ensure the truck was immobilized and secured against accidental movement.
The court imposed an automatic 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge on the total as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special government fund to assist victims of crime.
My opinion
The law(s) in contravention:
Asia Pulp and Paper could have been charged with section 25, sub-section 2(a) of the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) which states,
“The employer shall provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health and safety of the worker.”
The appropriate standard that deals with forklift training is CSA B335-15. (Year 2015 was the last year of amendment) Section 6.12.4 of that standard involves Docks, trucks and rail cars. Section (b) states, “The trainee shall be instructed on verifying that prior to entering the truck, trailer or railcar the vehicles are adequately restrained to prevent accidental movement.
In this case, the employee was at fault, the supervisor was at fault for not practicing due diligence and consulting the employer and checking to see if the trailer was restrained and the employer was at fault for not providing the information and instruction to the worker to protect the health and safety of the worker.
The CSA standard B335-15 is the forklift training standard the MOL accepts. Since the operator did not check the trailer for wheel chocks it would be safe to assume that if the operator had any training at all, it was NOT to the appropriate CSA standard. The MOL will be doing a ‘Compliance’ investigation to review the steps of the incident taken and evaluate to see which sections of the ACT of the appropriate regulations, in this case, the ‘Industrial’ regulation 851.
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 ‘Forklift Certification’ and ‘Forklift Re-Certification’. Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259.
‘Play’ and ‘Work’ safe.
Dan Beal
CHSEP – Foundation Level
VP & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.
Many thanks!
More of the same!
Here is a great blog!