Canadian Occupational Safety

www.thesafetymag.com/ca 7 GREAT LAKES COPPER FINED $75K FOR TUBING INJURY GREAT Lakes Copper Ltd. was fined $75,000 after one of its workers was injured after being struck by tubing that slid as it was being moved. The charge stemmed from a Nov. 4, 2019 incident, when a worker from a temporary help agency and a second worker were working in the company's shipping/warehouse facility. The workers were retrieving stock and preparing it for shipping. This task is usually done by one worker; however, on that day, the temporary worker was shadowing the second worker. The second worker operated the forklift to lift the copper tubing, while the temporary worker was on foot, working between a weigh scale and a desk. They placed a bundle of copper tubes into a tube rack on the weigh scale, to be weighed and split into bundles of desired weights. Once the bundles were weighed and apportioned, the temporary worker wrapped two slings around the bundles, one at each end, and attached them to the forklift extension. Intending to maintain a tight bundle, a third "cinch strap" was added to the middle of the bundle. The cinch strap was placed loosely over the top of the bundle after the forklift had already started lifting it. However, due to the height of the lift at the time, the temporary worker did not see that the strap had also been thrown around the fixed frame of the tube rack on the scale. The second worker raised the lift further, which now consisted of the tubing bundle and the tube rack. The second worker could see the rack was tipping and began to lower the lift. However, the cinch strap released, causing the bundle and tube rack to fall and strike the temporary worker. The temporary worker was knocked into a nearby desk and onto the floor where the worker was pinned. The tube rack and tube bundle pinning the worker weighed about 1,300 lbs. The worker suffered injuries. According to the government, Great Lakes Copper had a standard operating procedure (SOP) for picking straight stock, and the workers had been trained on this SOP. However, the SOP did not address the step of adding a cinch strap to bundles being lifted, despite the fact that the schematic in the SOP shows a cinch strap on a bundle. It was the general practice among workers to add a cinch strap, but they had not been trained on how to do so safely and the cinch strap had sometimes been caught on the tube rack frame during previous lifts. An investigation found that Great Lakes Copper failed to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by the regulation were complied with at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the act. Also, Section 45(a) of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments (Regulation 851) prescribes that "material, articles or things required to be lifted, carried or moved, shall be lifted, carried or moved in such a way and with such precautions and safeguards, including protective clothing, guards or other precautions as will ensure that the lifting, carrying or moving of the material, articles or things does not endanger the safety of any worker." Worker dies following wooden telephone pole incident Ontario company R.M. Bélanger Limited was fined $210,000 after one of its workers was killed when a wooden telephone pole rolled while it was being loaded with a forklift onto a trailer. The company was found guilty on Oct. 1, 2020 of two offences: failing to use a safe procedure for loading a pole onto a flatbed trailer; and failing to ensure that no worker was in an endangered position during the loading of a pole onto a flatbed trailer. Both were contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Ontario Health and Safety Act. "Material…shall be lifted, carried or moved in such a way…as will ensure that the lifting, carrying or moving of the material…does not endanger the safety of any worker." Regulation for Industrial Establishments Worker fatally injured while fixing a strap Saskatchewan company Basic Truck & Trailer Repair Incorporated was fined $65,000 plus a $26,000 surcharge after pleading guilty to one count under Occupational Health and Safety legislation. The charge stemmed from a July 31, 2018 incident where a worker was fixing a strap on a truck box's hydraulic cylinder. The strap broke, resulting in a fatal injury to the worker. The company was charged with contravening subsection 164(1) of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996. Two other charges were stayed. Asbestos risk leads to hefty fines for B.C. companies Vancouver-based demolition firm MK Demo was fined $20,000 and issued a stop-work order following an inspection by WorkSafeBC at its worksite. The firm had been conducting asbestos abatement at a house slated for demolition. During inspection, WorkSafeBC found that workers were carrying bags of vinyl sheet flooring, which is an identified asbestos- containing material (ACM), out of a building and into a trailer. In the same vein, Green Clover Asbestos was fined $40,000 and issued a stop-work order following a WorkSafeBC inspection of its worksite in Surrey, B.C.

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