
Critical injury results in $50,000 fine for Kitchener manufacturer
By PLANT STAFF
General Manufacturing injury manufacturing Safety workplaceWorker was pinned between two rollers while a printing machine was operating.
KITCHENER, Ont. — A manufacturer of steel nails was fined $50,000 as a result of a worker who was critically injured when pinned between two rollers of a Flexo machine.
THS Industries Ltd. in Kitchener, Ont. entered a guilty plea in provincial court for not ensuring the worker received adequate information, instruction and supervision, according Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The worker, injured on Jan. 17, 2018, was installing a rubber flexible printing plate on the flexo machine. A co-worker operating the controls could not see the worker on the other side of the machine who became pinned between two rollers while the machine was operating.
A Ministry of Labour inspection revealed the injured worker did not receive adequate information, instruction, and supervision on how to safely operate the printing press.
The court also imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge, required by the Provincial Offences Act, that’s credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.