Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
A worker, employed by Resolute FP Canada Inc. of Montreal, Quebec, a producer of wood, pulp, tissue and paper products, was fatally injured while performing maintenance on a machine that was inadequately locked out.
On March 28, 2022, an industrial electrician was attempting to repair a photo-eye on a debarking machine.
Before the electrician attempted the repair, they worked with a maintenance team to lock out the machine according to the company’s written lockout procedure. Workers also attempted to verify that isolation and de-energization of the machine had been successful, in accordance with the procedure.
The worker then began performing maintenance and repairs, believing the machine was properly locked out. While working alone, the worker positioned themself in a gap between the machine’s infeed roller gears. The rollers slowly and unexpectedly moved, trapping and fatally injuring the worker.
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation determined that the company’s written lockout procedure was inadequate to protect the worker from the hazard of the infeed rollers and drive gears moving while they were working on the machine. Not all sources of energy were identified and controlled and the verification procedure did not test all sources of hazardous energy.
Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court in Dryden, Resolute FP Canada Inc. was fined $500,000 by Justice of the Peace Daphne Armstrong. Crown Counsel was Daniel Kleiman.
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:
Resolute FP Canada Inc., was found guilty of a contravention of the Ontario ‘Industrial Establishments’ sector regulation 851/90, section 76, subsection (a) which states,
“Where the starting of a machine, transmission machinery, device or thing may endanger the safety of a worker,
- control switches or other control mechanisms shall be locked out.”
This is contrary to section 25, subsection 1(c) of the Ontario 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.”
Too bad the company gave only lip-service to the needs of locking and tagging out a machine or device. The worker could have easily been better protected if the employer had recognized ALL potential hazards and THEN set up a set of procedures for properly locking and tagging out.
Some of the types of energy other than electrical can be;
- Cuts/pinches from entanglement,
- Being crushed between moving components,
- Drowning from liquids in storage tanks, silos and hoppers,
- Asphyxiation,
- Chemical reactions, and
- Burns from hot components, fire and explosions.
HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs including ‘Electrical Safety Awareness’ and ‘Lockout and Tagout’. 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
CEO & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.