Conveyor Injury in Mississauga Results in $75,000 Fine

K-G Spray-Pak Inc., a manufacturer and packager of aerosol products, has been convicted on the 16th of October, 2018 from an incident that took place on June 12, 2017 when a worker was injured after being caught in a conveyor belt. This accident occurred at the company’s plant at 7550 Kimbel street, Mississauga, Ontario.

Penalty Imposed:

• Following a guilty plea, the company was fined $75,000 by Justice of the Peace Helena Cassano in Mississauga; Crown Counsel Judy L. Chan.

• 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.

Background:

• 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.

• Section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) requires an employer shall ensure the prescribed measures and procedures are complied with.

• Section 75 of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments states that "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 OHSA.