Fine levied after worker caught in conveyor

OTTAWA – Clean Water Works Inc., an Ottawa, Ontario-based company that provides environmental remediation services pleaded guilty and was fined $100,000, plus a a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge after a worker was injured in a conveyor.

On January 18, 2018 a worker employed by Clean Water Works Inc. was assisting with the preparation of a liner designed for sealing leaks in sewer lines.

The worker was pulled into the pinch point of an in-running nip hazard created by two rollers on a moving conveyor known as the wet-out plant conveyor and sustained critical injuries.

An investigation of the incident by the Ministry of Labour concluded that Clean Water Works Inc. committed the offence of failing, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 25 of Ontario Regulation 851 (the Industrial Establishments Regulation) were carried out in the workplace. This was contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Specifically, Clean Water Works Inc. failed to ensure that the in-running nip hazard on the machine known as the wet-out plant conveyor was guarded by a guard or other device that prevented access to the pinch point.