Cambridge company fined for 2017 death of worker

A Cambridge company has been fined $110,000 after one of its workers was fatally injured on the job.

It happened on December 8, 2017 at Waynco Limited, which produces aggregate for use in construction.

On that day a worker was using a crusher to break down pieces of aggregate while another worker operated a loader.

The aggregate was to be moved from the loader in a large steel frame called a grizzly deck.

According to court documents, the aggregate occasionally has to be moved manually to prevent the machine from jamming.

As the loader approached the grizzly deck the worker operating the loader saw that it wasn’t closed, preventing access by the loader.

That’s when the worker found the body of the crusher operator under the grizzly deck.

The worker died from their injuries.

The Ministry of Labour investigated the incident and determined that the crusher had an unguarded pinch point.

The lower lever on the grizzly deck was also not functioning properly and would stick in the lowered position. In addition, a prop bar which was used to hold up the deck during cleaning operations wasn’t in place and the machine had not been de-energized.

A provincial court has determined that Waynco failed to ensure that the machine was “stopped, all hydraulic, pneumatic or gravity-stored energy was dissipated or contained, and that energy isolating devices were engaged, locked and tagged.”

The company plead guilty to the charges.

Waynco was fined $110,000 and an additional 25% victim fine surcharge.