Stayana International Trading fined $60,000
Stayana International Trading, a Toronto company that shreds plastic materials for recycling, was fined $60,000 on March 26 for a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, after a worker was seriously injured. In addition to the company’s fine, Leonid Kofman, a sales manager for the company, was also fined $5,000.
The incident in question happened on August 28, 2007, when a worker at the company’s Flint Road industrial facility suffered a serious head injury after falling from a nearly 2-meters-high platform to a concrete floor below.
An investigation by the Ontario Ministry of Labour found that the platform had no guard rail, which may have prevented the worker from falling. Two days later, the ministry issued a stop-work order, and attached a stop-work tag to the main controls of the plastic grinder beside the platform.
Subsequently, a Ministry inspector went to the facility on September 19, 2007 to verify that the company had completed compliance measures and to lift the stop-work order, only to find that the stop work tag on the grinder had been removed and reattached. A worker then told the investigator that Mr. Kofman had removed the tag and authorized use of the grinder for a short time, until one of the company’s owners once again shut down the line and told workers they were not yet allowed to use the machine. When questioned by the inspector, Mr. Kofman denied removing the tag and authorizing use of the grinder, a claim that was later determined to be false.
Stayana International Trading, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure there was a guardrail on the open sides of the platform beside the grinder, and Mr. Kofman pleaded guilty to knowingly furnishing an inspector with false information. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Lynette Stethem. In addition, the court imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge on the total, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
Tags: MOL, Occupational Health and Safety Act, OHS, workplace safety
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