Sensor had been altered so as to falsely indicate safety grate was closed
Torrent Shotcrete Canada has been fined $130,000 for the death of a worker who fell into the hopper of a concrete pumper. The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
On Jan. 16, 2017, a Torrent Shotcrete worker was operating a concrete pump that was owned by Torrent Shotcrete in Toronto. At the end of any given pumping period, it was necessary to clean the hopper so that residual concrete would not harden.
The worker was in the process of cleaning out the hopper at the end of the work day using a power chisel. The worker fell into the hopper with the concrete auger running and was killed. There was no eyewitness to the incident and it is unknown how the worker fell into the hopper.
On the top of the involved hopper was a grate that prevented access to the auger. The hopper was equipped by the manufacturer with a sensor that would stop the movement of the auger upon the opening of the grate. The sensor would allow power to the auger as long as it was in contact with a metal piece that was attached to the grate.
Investigation by the Ministry of Labour revealed that the sensor on the hopper in question had been rendered inoperative by a metal washer that had been taped onto it, which would cause the sensor to allow power to the auger even when the grate was open. It had the same effect as the contact of the sensor with the grate when the grate was closed.
Investigation further revealed that wiring for the sensor had been altered so as to falsely indicate that the safety grate was closed, thereby allowing uninterrupted power to the auger when the grate was open, even had the sensor not been disabled by the taped washer.
Torrent Shotcrete pleaded guilty to failing as an employer to comply with section 25(1)(b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing to ensure that a grate sensor on a concrete hopper was not rendered inoperative.
Source: Ontario Ministry of Labour
