A workplace injury at the Barwick Mill has resulted in a fine against Norbord Inc.
A worker was hurt in October 2018 when a strapping machine activated unexpectedly.
Court heard the machine wasn’t equipped with a guard or other device in place to prevent access by a worker to hazardous moving parts.
Following a guilty plea in Fort Frances court, Norbord was fined $65,000.
A 25% victim fine surcharge was also imposed.
Provided is the background behind the case:
-On October 23, 2018, the strapping machine was running in automatic mode when it suddenly stopped after moving an OSB bundle into position. A worker approached the front of the machine to investigate and troubleshoot the problem. The worker discovered that an edge protector had fallen and was preventing the movement of the flop gate/actuator. Since the flop gate/actuator wasn’t in the expected position, the PLC didn’t receive the signal required to proceed further.
-The worker bent over to pick up the edge protector from where it had fallen. As soon as the edge protector was removed, the flop gate/actuator moved, which caused the PLC to receive the signal to proceed with the strapping operation. The platen lowered and the worker was caught between the bundle and the platen, suffering an injury.
-An investigation of the incident by the Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development found that there were no guards or other devices in place to prevent access by a worker to the hazardous moving parts of the strapping machine. This was contrary to the safety measures in section 24 of Ontario Regulation 851 (the Regulation for Industrial Establishments) and to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
