Worker was injured while adjusting the speed of a batter depositor on an industrial oven
Ontario employer NuStef Baking Ltd. has been fined $55,000 after one of its workers was injured in the workplace.
Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Mississauga, the employer was also ordered to pay 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.
The incident occurred on March 20, 2023, when a worker was adjusting the speed of a batter depositor on an industrial oven while it was in operation in Mississauga.
To do this, the worker reached below the oven to manually turn a knob while the batter depositor was in motion. The worker suffered serious injuries as a result.
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation determined that although the method the worker used to change the speed was consistent with both their on-the-job training and the manufacturer’s instructions, the industrial oven was not properly guarded.
“By not ensuring the equipment was properly guarded, NuStef Baking Ltd. failed to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 25 of Ontario Regulation 851/90 were carried out at the workplace, contrary to sections 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the Ontario government.
Section 25 of the regulation reads: “An in-running nip hazard or any part of a machine, device or thing that may endanger the safety of any worker shall be equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevents access to the pinch point.”
Section 25(1)(c) of the OHSA reads: “An employer shall ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed are carried out in the workplace.”
