News Machine & Operator Safety
Metal fabrication company fined $65K after worker injury

An Ontario custom metal fabrication company has been fined $65,000 in provincial court after a worker was injured at its facility in Bolton.

Following a guilty plea, 4-Way Metal Fabricators was fined by Justice of the Peace Stephen Budaci in Caledon, Ontario. The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, which is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

The incident occurred on November 13, 2018. A worker was placed at 4-Way Metal through an employment agency called H & H Employment Services. He had been working at 4-Way Metal for a minimal period of time when the incident occurred.

According to an investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, on the date of the incident, the worker was working at an unguarded punch press machine when his hand become trapped under the ram of the punch press and injured.

4-Way Metal was fined for not ensuring that an in-running nip hazard or any part of a machine, device or thing that may endanger the safety of any worker, be equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevents access to the pinch point.