Steel manufacturer fined for not guarding machinery; worker injured

Welded Tube of Canada Limited, a steel manufacturer, was fined $120,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a worker was injured.

On August 19, 2009, a worker at the company’s Concord, Ont.-based factory was helping to change over part of a mill used to shape steel sheets into tubes. The worker was standing near the back of the mill when a section of the mill was moved into place using a rack and pinion drive system. The worker’s leg was pinched between a moving rack and the mill, breaking the worker’s leg.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the area of the mill where the worker was standing was not guarded to prevent access to the pinch point between the moving rack and the frame of the mill.

Welded Tube of Canada Limited pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the machinery was guarded to prevent access to its pinch point.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-percent 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.

www.labour.gov.on.ca