Faurecia fined $80K after worker injured by storage bin
October 7, 2015
By Ontario Ministry of Labour
Oct. 6, 2015 – Faurecia Automotive Seating Canada pleaded guilty and has been fined $80,000 after a worker was injured by a storage bin that collapsed while it was being pushed.
On December 7, 2013, the worker was at the company’s industrial facility at 100 Reagans Industrial Parkway in Bradford West Gwillimbury, Ont., where the company manufactures seat frames for the automotive industry.
The worker was pushing an empty plastic storage bin along an aisleway in order to clear a path for another vehicle. The side of the bin collapsed and the worker fell forward into the bin. Another worker found the injured worker. The injured worker’s arms were immobile and the injured worker was unable to sit up. Emergency personnel transported the worker to hospital and the worker underwent extensive surgery.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) investigation found that the side of the bin that the worker was pushing had latches which could be used to collapse the bins for shipping. The investigation revealed the worker was not aware of the hazard of the bin potentially collapsing and that it was common for workers to push bins in the same manner.
Section 45(a) of Ontario Regulation 851 – the Industrial Establishments Regulation – provides that material, articles or things shall be moved in a manner that does not endanger the safety of a worker. Faurecia failed as an employer to ensure that the measure and procedures prescribed in Ontario Regulation 851 were carried out at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, according to the investigation.
In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.