Broach stick fell, struck worker
Ontario employer Linamar Corporation—operating as Linamar Gear—has been fined $350,000 after one of its workers was critically injured in the workplace.
Following a guilty plea in Provincial Offences Court in Guelph, 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 that assists victims of crime.
The incident occurred at the company’s Independence Place facility on June 30, 2023, when an acting supervisor directed a worker to perform a broach stick tool change.
A broach stick is a tool used in precision machining to remove material from a workpiece. It typically consists of a long, toothed bar that progressively cuts into the material as it passes through or along it, explained the Ontario government.
That day, the worker used a jib crane equipped with clamping attachments to insert and remove broach sticks from a broaching machine. During this process, a 460-pound broach stick fell from the crane and struck the worker, resulting in a critical injury.
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation identified several contributing factors. One key issue was that the crane controls were not functioning as designed by the manufacturer. This allowed the crane to lift a broach stick that was only partially engaged—meaning the crane’s clamp attachment was not fully closed—thereby compromising the secure handling of the heavy broach stick, said the Ontario government.
The employer failed to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 45(a) of Ontario Regulation 851/90 were carried out at a workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, said the provincial government.
Section 45(a) of the regulation states: Material, articles or things required to be lifted, carried or moved, shall be lifted, carried or moved in such a way and with such precautions and safeguards, including protective clothing, guards or other precautions as will ensure that the lifting, carrying or moving of the material, articles or things does not endanger the safety of any worker.
