Baked goods company fined $70K after worker injured by machine

Nov. 15, 2017 – Concord, Ontario-based FGF Brands pleaded guilty and was fined $70,000 after a temporary worker was trapped and injured by a dough machine that had been started up while cleaning was being done.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, the commercial food manufacturer failed as an employer to ensure that the measures and procedures in section 76 of the Ontario Regulation 851/90 – the Industrial Establishments Regulation – were carried out in the workplace.

The regulation states that 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 and other effective precautions necessary to prevent any starting shall be taken.

The investigation found that workers were assigned the task of cleaning a line of machinery that includes a hopper, dough chunker and conveyor belts. The temporary worker began cleaning the internal belt of the hopper, then needed the belt to be advanced in order to clean the underside of the hopper.

While other workers were trying to start movement of the hopper belt, the temporary worker began to clean the dough chunker. While the temporary worker was reaching inside the chunker to scrape off dried dough, the reset button was pushed on the chunker control panel, and the blades within the chunker rotated closed and trapped the temporary worker.

The worker was trapped until the equipment could be dismantled. The individual suffered critical injuries and was transported to hospital.  

In addition to the fine, 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.