Canadian Waste Management, an employer in Ontario, was fined $50,000 after one of its employees suffered a serious injury while doing their duties.
Following a guilty plea, the employer is further obligated to pay a 25% victim fine surcharge as mandated by the Provincial Offenses Act, which will be paid to a unique provincial government fund for assisting crime victims.
When the event occurred on December 8, 2020, the employer had a contract with the City of Stratford for the pickup of organic waste, recycling, and rubbish. On that particular day, a worker was emptying a rubbish collection truck at the city’s dump.
The truck’s equipment had been activated by the worker in order to move the rubbish from the hopper to the tailgate so it could be emptied. A garbage bag had slipped behind the ram that was moving the debris, the worker suddenly discovered.
The worker moved the fallen bag closer while the machinery was still operating by using a plastic snow brush that was collected from the trash. The employee reached into the vehicle and took the bag out.
The worker’s jacket became entangled in the equipment during that operation. The worker suffered a serious injury.
According to Robert Vomiero, a machine and robotics safety expert with the Workplace Safety & Prevention Services, “you can greatly reduce the obstacles that may lead to machine-related injuries and downtime when you design machines and choose safeguarding that meets the capabilities of people.”
