Employee was knocked over by a 1,228-pound conveyor skid
A metal fabrication company specialising in conveyors was convicted of violating occupational health and safety laws, resulting in the death of a worker.
Justice of the Peace Angela Renaud passed R.J. Cyr Company, in Maidstone, Ontario a $125,000 fine.
The company pleaded guilty to the charges.
According to the ruling, R.J. Cyr failed to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by Ontario Regulation 851 -- "machinery, equipment or material that may tip or fall and endanger any worker shall be secured against tipping or falling"— was carried out in the workplace.
In November 2016, a worker was lifting conveyor frames with an overhead five-ton crane and placing them on a support structure. The materials should have been clamped to the support structure before detaching the crane.
The Ministry of Labour investigation found no evidence that the worker had been instructed not to disconnect the conveyor skid -- 33.5 inches wide and 22 feet, 9 inches long, weighing 1,228 pounds -- from the overhead crane until the skid was secured to the support structure.
As the worker was securing one of the skids to the support structure with clamps, it tipped toward the worker, knocking the worker backward and pinning the worker to the concrete floor.
There were no witnesses, but the incident was captured on a security surveillance video.
The court also imposed a 25% 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.
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