Excerpt from the government of Ontario’s ‘Newsroom’
A bottle-manufacturing company has pleaded guilty and has been fined $100,000 after a worker suffered a permanent injury in Brampton.
The company, O-I Canada Corporation, has a principal place of business in Ontario at 777 Kipling Avenue in Toronto and operates a glass manufacturing facility located at 100 West Drive, Brampton.
On February 27, 2016, a worker was working at the industrial site in the bottle forming department with a second worker, a machine operator. They were working on a machine known as the Individual Section (IS) bottle making machine.
An IS machine is made up of individual but identical sections placed side by side; each section can be started or stopped independently of the others. This machine is capable of producing 100 bottles per minute by forming molten “gobs” of glass at 1,200 degrees Celsius.
The worker and the machine operator were jointly performing a standard operating procedure which included inspecting bottles and changing all neck rings and plungers. Toward the completion of the task, the worker was removing rings from the front of the machine and lost sight of one of the rings.
The worker asked the machine operator, who was working at the back of the machine, to close the mold. With the mold closed, the worker could reach in and retrieve the ring. While the worker was reaching in, the mold moved from the closed position to the open position. When the mold opened, this pinched the worker’s hand between the mold and a shaft for a few minutes, until a co-worker used a switch to close the mold again. When the mold closed, the worker was able to remove the hand but suffered critical crush and burn injuries that required surgery and resulted in permanent injury.
A Ministry of Labour investigation followed. It was found that the defendant failed to ensure that control switches or other control mechanisms were locked out and failed to ensure that other effective precautions were taken to prevent the starting of mold-opening motion that could endanger a worker.
As such, O-I Canada Corporation failed as an employer to ensure that the measures and procedure prescribed by Ontario’s Industrial Establishments Regulation were carried out at the workplace.
O-I Canada Corporation was fined $100,000 by Justice of the Peace Milagros Eustaquio-Syme in Brampton court on June 13, 2017.
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:
O-I Canada Corp. was found guilty of a contravention of the Ontario ‘Industrial Establishments’ 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.”
O-I Canada Corp. 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.”
This type of accident should never have had to happen. Lockout and Tagout is a very important part of the OHSA and any of the sector regulations which include;
- Construction – 213/91;
- Industrial – 851/90;
- Healthcare – 67/93; and
- Mining – 854/90.
Please ensure that your company has a lockout and tagout policy and procedure. This would also include blocking of equipment and cycling of the machine. Complete a JHA (job hazard analysis) beforehand and lookout for any potential hazard.
This type of accident would not have happened if proper procedures were written and adhered to.
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.
Your article helped me a lot.
Thank you for your sharing.