$170,000 fine in worker’s death in Orillia
ORILLIA — The death of an aggregate worker here pulled into a machine while cleaning it last winter, has led to a $170,000 fine for the owner of the employer he worked for.
Following a guilty plea, Justice of the Peace Neil Burgess on Monday fined Walker Aggregates Inc., of Niagara Falls, in Orillia court.
They produce limestone, sand and gravel from 15 quarries in Ontario.
According to the Crown, on February 6, 2017, workers at the company’s Severn quarry, at 2646 Nichols Line, were preparing machinery to go back into production after the customary six-week winter shutdown.
The start-up process involved ensuring each piece of equipment, including conveyors, were operating. The work involved removing the ice buildup on the two conveyors.
Two workers were clearing the tension pulley of a conveyor. They had opened the wire mesh gates, which restricted access to the pulley, and the two were right beside the conveyor. There was no interlocking device in place, and the conveyor could run while the gates were open.
The conveyor and pulley were moving during this time, said the Crown’s Judy L. Chan.
While removing ice buildup on a pulley on the conveyor, a metal bar being used by the worker was caught by the pinch point formed between the conveyor and the steel drum of the pulley.
As the conveyor moved, the bar was pulled in, and the worker holding the bar was pulled in with it, suffering fatal head injuries as a result.
The worker was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency services.
The name of the 31-year-old worker was not released by police.
The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by theProvincial Offences Act.
Section 196(6) of the Mines and Mining Regulation (Regulation 854) states that a conveyor shall be stopped and the prime mover de-energized, locked and tagged out when the conveyor is undergoing repairs, adjustments or maintenance unless (a) it is necessary to run the conveyor during such work; and (b) effective precautions are taken to prevent injury to a worker from moving parts.
The Ministry of Labour investigation determined that the conveyor was not de-energized, locked and tagged out while the ice was being removed from the pulley.
In addition, it was not necessary to run the conveyor during this task, nor had any precautions been taken to prevent the worker from oming into contact with the conveyor’s moving parts.
These were offences under section 196(6) of the Mining Regulations, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and an offence under section 66(1) of the act.
