Convicted: Coreslab Structures (Ont) Inc., 205 Coreslab Drive, Dundas, Ontario, a producer of precast-prestressed concrete products.

Location of Workplace: The company’s plant at 205 Coreslab Drive, Dundas.

Description of Offence: A worker was injured by a cutting machine after lifting a shield to hold material in position. The worker should have been protected from the hazard.

Date of Offence: August 3, 2018.

Date of Conviction: July 28, 2021.

Penalty Imposed:

• Following a guilty plea in provincial offences court in Hamilton, Coreslab Structures was fined $90,000 by Justice of the Peace A. James Child; Crown Counsel Alicia Gordon-Fagan.
• 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.

Background:

• On August 3, 2018, a Coreslab worker attempted to operate a shear machine to cut rebar. The worker lifted a shield to hold the rebar in position. When the worker activated the shear machine a clamp closed, resulting in injuries.
• Section 25 of the Industrial Establishment Regulation (Regulation 851) requires an in-running nip hazard or any part of a machine, device or thing, that may endanger the safety of any worker shall be equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevents access to the pinch point. As such, the defendant failed to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 25 of the regulation were carried out in the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.