Worker got injured trying to free a water hose that was caught on a drill rod
A Quebec drilling contractor has been fined $100,000 after an assistant driller was injured by rotating equipment at an underground mine in Timmins, following a guilty plea to an Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) offence, according to the Ontario government.
Orbit Garant Drilling Services Inc., of Val-d’Or, Quebec, was convicted as an employer in connection with a Sept. 30, 2023 incident at the Bell Creek Underground Mine in Porcupine (Timmins), where the company had been contracted to provide diamond drilling services, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
The Ontario government reported that “a worker was injured while trying to free a water hose that was caught on a drill rod.” The Ministry found that the company “failed, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 185(2) of Ontario Regulation 854: Mines and Mining Plants were carried out, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”
Sequence of events underground
According to the Ministry’s account, the incident occurred when an assistant driller intervened to address a fouled water hose on the drilling equipment.
“On the day of the incident, an assistant driller noticed that a water hose had gotten caught on the drill rod and tried to free it,” the Ontario government report said. At the same time, “a driller, working outside a protective fence, rotated the drill, which injured the assistant driller,” the Ministry stated.
The Ontario government said a subsequent investigation determined that “the drill rig had an exposed moving part that was not adequately guarded.” The Ministry added that “the guard had been ordered by the employer but was not yet installed.”
The Ministry concluded that, in these circumstances, Orbit Garant Drilling Services Inc. did not ensure that the prescribed measures in the mines regulation were implemented. Therefore, the company “did not ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 185(2) of Ontario Regulation 854 were carried out, contrary to clause section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” the Ontario government said.
The company pleaded guilty in the Ontario Provincial Offences Court in Timmins and was convicted on Dec. 4, 2025.
Following the guilty plea, “the company was fined $100,000 by His Worship Leonard Ellery; Crown Counsel was Dan Phelan,” according to the government bulletin.
In addition to the fine, the Ontario government noted that 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.
Guarding, entanglement and safe positioning
For occupational health and safety professionals, the facts of the case align closely with established guidance on safeguarding moving parts and preventing entanglement.
The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) notes that workers can be exposed to “moving parts (e.g., risk of injuries from entanglement, friction, abrasion, cutting, severing, shearing, stabbing, puncturing, impact, crushing, drawing-in or trapping, etc.)” when working with or around machinery.
CCOHS emphasises that exposure to unguarded moving components can occur “while working with or around the machine (e.g., entanglement, contact with the blade, etc.),” underscoring the need for effective physical safeguards and safe work practices around rotating or reciprocating parts.
In the context of drill rigs and mining plant, these principles translate into ensuring that all hazardous rotating parts are guarded, that workers do not place hands, hoses or tools near moving drill components, and that any required guards are installed and verified before equipment is operated.
