WINDSOR, ONT. — A Windsor, Ont. contractor was fined recently for its role in an incident in which a worker was struck and critically injured by a beam.
CMF Group Inc., a company that provides millwrighting, rigging and general contractor services, was convicted June 20. The incident occurred in October 2016 at the Service Mold + Aerospace Inc. plant where CMF was installing new milling machines.
A Ministry of Labour statement explained a CMF crew was installing the second of two new milling machines using two 20-tonne overhead cranes. The rigging consisted of a horizontal I-beam used as a spreader bar, hoisted by the two cranes.
The two cranes were being operated independently of each other, and the two remote controls had not been synchronized to work in tandem, which would control their speeds.
While the milling machine was being lifted, one of the two cranes started to rise faster than the other, causing the horizontal spreader beam between them to become unbalanced.
The beam slid, fell and struck a worker who had been standing on a part of the machine, knocking the worker to the floor. The worker suffered critical injuries.
The ministry investigation into the incident determined the cranes were equipped with anti-collision sensors, which would prevent cranes or their loads from operating within five feet of each other.
In addition, the operator manual for the cranes states it is “the customer’s responsibility to ensure that all sensors and reflectors are kept completely clean and in good working condition at all times.”
The anti-collision sensors on these cranes had been covered up, and the sensors did not activate.
The release noted Section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) provides that an employer shall ensure the prescribed measures and procedures are complied with.
Section 93(3) of the Ontario Regulation for Construction Projects prescribes that all vehicles, machines, tools and equipment shall be used in accordance with any operating manuals issued by the manufacturers.
A Windsor justice of the peace determined CMF failed to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed in the Regulation for Construction Projects were complied with, contrary to the OHSA. This is an offence under section 66(1) of the OHSA.
Following a guilty plea, CMF was fined $75,000. The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
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