A Toronto-area widow is speaking out, two weeks after her husband was killed in an industrial accident in Richmond Hill, as officials from Ontario’s Ministry of Labour say they continue to look into the man’s death. Kamal Kumar, a millwright at Gamma Foundries, was killed when the large sand mixing machine he was inside was switched on. He leaves behind an 11-year-old son as well as a wife and mother he supported, said his wife, Anu Rani. “He just gave happiness to everyone, everyone,” Rani said through tears in an interview in the family’s Brampton home. “I lost that man who is my whole life.” CTV’s helicopter footage from August 25 shows police, firefighters, and Ministry of Labour inspectors at Gamma Foundries, at 115 Newkirk Rd., east of Yonge Street between Major Mackenzie Drive East and Elgin Mills Road West. News spread quickly among Kumar’s friends that he had been killed at work. “He was trying to get information about a replacement part, because he had a contractor standing by next to him,” said one friend, Sam Sharma. That’s when Kumar went inside the machine, which is roughly two stories tall, to check on the part, Sharma said. It was about 10:30 in the morning, he said. Company bringing in consultant Gamma Foundries’ president, Ryan Bishop, said the company is co-operating with the Ministry of Labour’s investigation, adding that he’s been doing his own work as well to see if any extra technology could have created another level of failsafe. “It’s a worst-case scenario. It’s weighed heavily on me,” he said. “We’re bringing in a consulting company to see what else we can do better.” Gamma Foundries isn’t listed on Ontario government websites that describe sanctions or punishments related to workplace safety. “The investigation is still ongoing. As such, there are no updates at this time,” a statement from the Ministry of Labour read. Workplaces aren’t safer: expert Ministry figures show there are fewer people dying in Ontario’s industrial workplaces, from a COVID-19-era high of 48 in 2021-2022 to 28 in 2024-2025. In the same time period, however, critical injuries in those workplaces have climbed from about 1,500 to almost 2,200, figures show. Toronto Metropolitan University Professor Emeritus Eric Tucker said people should be cautious in concluding the workplaces are safer, pointing to other studies that show incident rates haven’t changed much in decades. The accident that killed Kumar is the kind of thing that has persisted despite improvements in policies and technology, he says. “It’s a very old-fashioned type of accident. One that has occurred for decades. Procedures should have been in place to prevent it from occurring by use of what is called a lockout procedure,” said Tucker. “Typically, that would involve a person who is entering into a space like that putting a physical lock on the box with the start button and they would be the only person with a key.” Man killed was on work permit from India, friend says Sharma said Kumar was on a work permit from India that was tied to his job at Gamma Foundries, which would have put pressure on him to do what was asked of him at work, even if he was tired. He said he wanted the ministry investigators to consider that as a factor in his friend’s death – something Tucker said should be considered as well. “Many advocates for temporary foreign workers point to the fact that the status creates all kinds of workplace vulnerabilities. So if it’s not being considered I would think of that as an oversight,” said Sharma. Rani, who has a kidney condition, can only work part-time, and worries about the future without her spouse. The family has an outstanding application to be permanent residents of Canada, she added.
