Employer failed to ‘close off the area and position warning signs to protect workers’
Ontario employer Compass Minerals Canada Corp., has been fined $75,000 after one of its workers was critically injured at the company’s salt mine.
Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Goderich, the employer was also tasked 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 happened on Dec. 19, 2022, when maintenance workers and an electrician were repairing a flexible conveyor train that had partially run off its rails at 300 North Harbour Road, Goderich.
To fix the problem, the maintenance workers had to maintain power to the equipment to get it back onto the rails. The electrician left the area while this was being done. The electrician was called back after the maintenance work was completed.
After noticing that the work area was not blocked off and there were no warning signs alerting of a hazard, the electrician assumed the equipment and power were now off. The electrician stepped onto the rail to check the limit switches on the flexible conveyer train.
Not knowing that the electrician was there, a worker began moving the train.
Although alarms sounded to warn that the train was going to move, the electrician could not react quickly enough. As a result, they were critically injured.
A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation determined that the employer failed to protect workers by not positioning warning signs and barriers around repair work that posed a danger or hazard to a worker, according to the Ontario government.
As a result, Compass Minerals “failed to ensure that the measures and procedures as prescribed by section 68 of O. Reg. 854/90 were carried out at a workplace contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act,” said the provincial government.
Section 68 states:
Where a workplace, travelway, manway or other area of an underground mine is under repair or where there is a danger or hazard to a worker,
(a) the workplace, travelway, manway or other area shall be closed by barricades, fencing or other suitable means; and
(b) warning signs shall be posted indicating that it is under repair or indicating the nature of the danger or hazard. O. Reg. 486/99, s. 2.
Meanwhile, 25 (1) states that an employer shall ensure that,
(a) the equipment, materials and protective devices as prescribed are provided;
(b) the equipment, materials and protective devices provided by the employer are maintained in good condition;
(b.1) any personal protective clothing and equipment that is provided, worn or used is a proper fit and is appropriate in the circumstances, having regard to all relevant factors, including such factors as may be prescribed;
(c) the measures and procedures prescribed are carried out in the workplace;
(d) the equipment, materials and protective devices provided by the employer are used as prescribed; and
(e) a building, structure, or any part thereof, or any other part of a workplace, whether temporary or permanent, is capable of supporting any loads that may be applied to it,
(i) as determined by the applicable design requirements established under the version of the Building Code that was in force at the time of its construction,
(ii) in accordance with such other requirements as may be prescribed, or
(iii) in accordance with good engineering practice, if subclauses (i) and (ii) do not apply. R.S.O. 1990, c. O.1, s. 25 (1); 2011, c. 11, s. 9; 2024, c. 41, Sched. 3, s. 8.
