Worker was injured by a falling pallet while operating a pallet truck
Ontario employer AM Wholesale Meats Ltd. has been fined $50,000 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 tasked to pay a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge on the defendant, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
The incident happened on March 7, 2024, when a worker was operating a pallet truck to remove packaging materials from a racking system.
According to the Ontario government, the truck struck a cross beam that was not secured with locking pins. This caused a pallet to fall, resulting in injury to the worker. The Ministry’s investigation found that the racking system had “damaged diagonal cross braces and missing locking pins,” and that the company “failed to ensure that the packaging materials were stored in a way that did not endanger a worker”.
Section 45(b)(ii) of Ontario Regulation 851 requires that materials be stored in a manner that does not endanger workers. The Ontario government stated that AM Wholesale Meats Ltd. failed to ensure that these “measures and procedures prescribed by section 45(b)(ii) of Ontario Regulation 851 were carried out at the workplace, contrary to sections 25(1)(c) and 66(1) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act”.
In the aftermath of the incident, AM Wholesale Meats Ltd. took several corrective measures. The company re-certified its racking system, implemented daily equipment inspections, conducted additional health and safety training, and hired a dedicated health and safety and quality assurance employee.
