A Saskatchewan company that makes wood products has been fined more than $45,000 after a worker was seriously injured on the job.
The province says L & M Wood Products (2011) Ltd. pleaded guilty on January 17,2017, to violating one count under Occupational Health and Safety legislation.
On February 10, 2015 an employee was cleaning a piece of machinery at its business near Glaslyn, when his arm got caught in a sprocket and was seriously injured.
The company admitted to failing to provide an effective safeguard where a worker may contact a dangerous moving part of a machine, resulting in a serious injury to a worker.
L & M Wood Products was fined $32,500 with a $13,000 surcharge.
The Ministry of Labour Relations and Workplace Safety work to eliminate workplace injuries and illnesses through education, inspections, and prosecutions.
“While everyone is responsible to create and maintain a safe and healthy workplace, employers carry the greatest responsibility because of their authority and control over the worksite,” the ministry said Monday in a news release. Courtesy of The Canadian Press
This article serves as an important lesson for us to take notice of. The OH&S Regulation 137(1)(a) was where this company was fined under:
Except where otherwise provided by these regulations, an employer or contractor shall provide an effective safeguard where a worker may contact: a dangerous moving part of a machine;
This lack of safeguard would have been noted if a proper hazard assessment had been conducted and would have resulted in controls being put in place before any accident could have taken place. This is why we always emphasize to have a written workplace hazard control program in place. This would include having completed hazard identification, determining the risks of each hazard, having implemented control measures based on the risk level and having a review process established.
By having a written workplace hazard control program in place we can avoid these hefty fines but more importantly avoid these types of accidents/injuries ever taking place.
For more information regarding establishing a hazard control program in your workplace, contact us about our training course ‘Hazard Identification and Controls’, found on our website.
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