Worker was struck and killed by coils of steel
Ontario employer Marwood International Inc. has been fined $175,000 after one of its workers was killed in the workplace.
The Ontario Court of Justice also tasked the employer – who pleaded guilty – to pay a 25 percent surcharge, to be credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
The incident happened on July 15, 2021. Three workers were moving coils of steel from the receiving area into a storage bay at the company’s Tillsonburg plant.
The coils varied in outside diameter from 63 to 72 inches, were between 12 to 14 inches wide and ranged in weight from 9,600 to 13,200 pounds. The coils were free-standing on the concrete floor with no measures or side supports to prevent them from rolling or tipping over.
As the forklift operator was positioning a coil, the forks of the forklift made contact with another coil. This resulted in a domino effect that caused three coils to tip over, striking and killing one worker who was standing between two coils.
“The employer failed to take specific measures and procedures to protect the safety of a worker as prescribed by paragraph 45(a) of the Industrial Regulation 851/91, which requires material to be transported, placed or stored so it will not tip, collapse or fall,” according to the Ontario government. “Therefore, the employer violated section 25 1 c of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.”
