Worker suffers permanent injury from conveyor belt, Matrix Logistics fined

Feb. 16, 2017 – Following a trial, Matrix Logistics Services Ltd. has been convicted and ordered to pay a fine of $70,000 after a worker was seriously injured after being pulled into a moving conveyor belt.

The company, which provides warehousing and storage services for businesses, has a facility in Mississauga.

On May 17, 2012, a worker was performing maintenance on a conveyor belt and the worker’s hand and arm were drawn into the running belt. The worker was able to stop the device and was taken to hospital.

The matter went to trial, which took place over six days in 2015. Justice of the Peace Sally A. Fallon rendered her decision on May 31, 2016 and held a sentencing hearing on October 18, 2016. Justice Fallon found that Matrix Logistics Services committed the offence of failing as an employer to ensure that an in-running nip hazard that may endanger the safety of a worker was equipped with and guarded with a device that prevents access to the pinch point. These safety procedures are required under the Industrial Establishments Regulation (Ontario Regulation 851) and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The $70,000 fine was imposed by the court on February 7, 2017.

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.