Canadian recycler fined for accident that killed employee

Peterborough Iron & Metal Inc., a scrap metal recycling facility located in Peterborough, Ontario, has pleaded guilty and been fined $105,000 by the Ontario Ministry of Labour after a worker was killed in an accident while processing scrap metal. The incident happened in August 2015. The company made the plea and was assessed the fine by the Ontario Justice of the Peace Peter Hiscox Jan. 23, 2017.

The fatality happened when a worker, while cutting some metal, was struck and crushed by an excavator operated by another Peterborough employee.

An inspector with the Ministry of Labour investigated the cause of the incident and determined that scrap metal being moved by the excavator endangered the safety of workers. The excavator was being operated in reverse, and the worker operating the excavator did not have a clear view of the intended path of travel, nor was there a signaler to assist with the task. In addition, the excavator did not have a working travel alarm. These were all violations of Section 56 of Ontario Regulation 851 (the Industrial Establishments Regulation).

According to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Peterborough Iron & Metal failed as an employer to ensure that measures and procedures prescribed by the regulation were carried out at the workplace, contrary to Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Initially, the Ministry of Labour indicted the company on six counts and two of its directors with six counts each. However, in a settlement, the company pleaded guilty to one count, with the other 17 counts were dismissed, according to a source with the Ministry of Labour.

The court also imposed a 25 percent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.