January 29, 2021
Labour, Training and Skills Development
Convicted: Lorik Tool & Automation Inc., 19 Copernicus Boulevard, Brantford, Ontario, a small business and manufacturer of custom automated machinery.
Location of Worksite: The company’s premises at 19 Copernicus Boulevard in Brantford, Ontario.
Description of Offence: Two workers were injured when a heavy electrical panel fell over while it was being moved. The employer failed to ensure that there was a procedure in place to prevent material from injuring workers by tipping or falling.
Date of Offence: June 19, 2018.
Date of Conviction: January 26, 2021.
Penalty Imposed:
- Following a guilty plea, Lorik Tool & Automation Inc. was fined $50,000 in provincial offences court in Brantford by Justice of the Peace Donald Dudar; Crown Counsel Judy L. Chan.
- 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.
Background:
- On June 19, 2018, a worker was moving a large electrical panel, which measured eight feet tall, 16 feet long and 18 inches wide, weighing about 4,000 lbs, intending to load it onto a truck.
- The panel was put on two wheeled dollies, one at the front and one at the rear of the panel. However, the feet in the centre of the panel impeded movement, as the dollies were not tall enough to allow the feet to clear the floor.
- The worker jacked up the bottom of the panel in an attempt to install wood studs on the dollies to raise the panel higher. While doing so, the panel tipped over and fell on the worker. As the panel tipped over, it also struck another nearby worker. Both suffered injuries.
- The investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development determined that there was no procedure for the movement of the panel onto the truck. In addition, the panel was not secured against tipping and falling.
- Section 46 of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments prescribes that machinery, equipment or material that may tip or fall and endanger any worker shall be secured against tipping or falling.
- Section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act states that an employer shall ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by the act and regulations are complied with.
- The defendant failed as an employer to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed by section 46 of the regulation were complied with, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the act. This is an offence contrary to section 66(1) of the act.