Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
On June 17th, 2017, a placement worker from Sheridan College was working at the K-G Spray-Pak Inc., a manufacturer and packager of aerosol products and was injured after being caught in a conveyor belt.
A worker who was on a work placement through Sheridan College was assigned to a task on a conveyor.
After completing the task, the worker reached under the conveyor to cut off the ends of the tie straps being used to secure hosing.
The worker looked down to retrieve dropped pliers; in doing so, the worker’s hair became caught in a rotating return shaft on the underside of the conveyor and the worker suffered injuries. The worker was taken by emergency services to hospital for treatment.
Following a guilty plea, the company was fined $75,000 by Justice of the Peace Helena Cassano in Mississauga.
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:
K-G Spray-Pak Inc. was found guilty of a contravention of the Ontario ‘Industrial’ regulation 851/90, 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.”
K-G Spray-Pak failed to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 75 were complied with, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) which states,
“An employer shall ensure that,
(c) the measures and procedures prescribed are carried out in the workplace.”
HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs including ‘SOPs’ and ‘Due Diligence’, ‘Lockout and Tagout’ and ‘Machine Guarding’. Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259
Ensure your workplace is a safe place.
Remember – In Ontario, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”
‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.
Daniel L. Beal
CHSEP – Advanced Level
VP & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.
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