Harrow firm fined $40,000 after worker injured by cutting blade

A company in Harrow has been fined $40,000 for failing to take proper precautions that led to a worker being injured after coming into contact with a cutting blade.

Following a guilty plea, Amer-can Investments Inc. was fined in provincial offences court by Justice of the Peace Susan Hoffman. The business is a partnership with C & C Canadian Holdings Inc. as Delta Wire & Mfg.

The business is a manufacturer of wire mesh, conveyor guarding, custom guarding, security fencing and powder coating.

On Oct. 29, 2018, a worker for the company was injured while using a cutting blade that should have been equipped with a guard to prevent injury as required by law.

He was operating a shear cutter to turn a sheet of metal stock material into pieces of various smaller sizes, according to a Ministry of Labour investigation. The task required continuous movement and repositioning of the decreasing metal sheet as small pieces were cut off. The metal sheet would become jammed in the cutter.

While trying to unjam the metal sheet, the worker inadvertently activated the foot control pedal which cycles the shear press and came in contact with the shear blade.

His injury required surgery. The investigation into the incident determined that although there was a manufacturer's guard on the shear cutter, the attachment of the homemade clampdown device on the cutter had pushed the guard out of position, resulting in a gap of about four inches between the bottom of the guard and the top of the shear bed.

This allowed access to the shear cutter's moving blade.