Other workers ‘expected the trainee would only be observing the machine’
Georgetown, Ont.-based BRC Business Enterprises Ltd. has been fined $80,000 after a first-day trainee was injured by the blades of an edge banding machine — a conviction that reminds occupational health and safety professionals that posted warning labels and physical guards do not discharge an employer's duty under section 25(2)(d) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act to acquaint every worker with every workplace hazard.
The office furniture manufacturer, of 24 Armstrong Ave., Georgetown, pleaded guilty in the Provincial Offences Court in Burlington to failing to acquaint a worker with the cutting hazard associated with maintenance and cleaning of the machine.
Justice of the Peace Trevor J. Howard imposed the $80,000 fine on April 27, 2026. Wes Wilson acted as Crown Counsel in the prosecution brought by the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
The court also imposed the 25 per cent victim fine surcharge required by the Provincial Offences Act. The Ontario government credits the surcharge to a special provincial fund that assists victims of crime.
Detail about the incident
On July 25, 2023, a worker began employment with the company as a trainee operator with a three-week training period. Following an onboarding session and plant tour, the trainee began assisting two other workers using an edge banding machine, which is used to "provide a finished edge to boards that will be assembled into desks and tables."
When a board is in the machine, access to internal components is blocked. When no board is present, an opening beside the conveyor allows access to internal parts, including the blades used for cutting and trimming.
The trainee saw one of the other workers reach into the slot several times and believed it was to clean debris. Without being instructed to do so, the trainee reached into the slot and was injured by the blades.
Under section 25(2)(d) of the OHS Act, employers must “acquaint a worker or a person in authority over a worker with any hazard in the work and in the handling, storage, use, disposal and transport of any article, device, equipment or a biological, chemical or physical agent”.
Investigation and orders
The Ministry's investigation found that warning labels were posted above the slot and a guard was in place. However, "the trainee was warned about hazards related to the conveyor belt and heaters on the machine, but they were not warned about the blades being a hazard."
The investigation also found that "the other workers expected the trainee would only be observing the machine," meaning no one had treated cleaning as a task the trainee might attempt.
After the incident, the Ontario government issued orders requiring "improved instruction, supervision and safe procedures for cleaning and lockout." The company complied by developing a procedure, posting it on the machine and training operators in its use.
