A company contracted for garbage, recycling and organic waste pick-up in Stratford was fined $50,000 after an employee was critically injured during an incident at the city's landfill on Romeo Street.
Canadian Waste Management Inc., headquartered in Mississauga, pleaded guilty in provincial offences court in Stratford earlier this year.
Facts presented in a provincial court bulletin reveal that the company was under contract with the city on Dec. 8, 2020, when a company employee was at the landfill to empty a waste collection truck. The worker had engaged the machinery of the truck to push waste from the hopper towards the tailgate to be emptied when they noticed a garbage bag had fallen behind the ram that was pushing the waste.
With the machinery still running, the worker used a plastic snow brush, taken from the garbage, to move the fallen bag closer. The worker then reached into the truck to grab the bag. The worker’s jacket got caught in the machinery and the worker was critically injured.
The truck was inspected by the employee and a supervisor and they noticed the safety plate that normally covers moving parts in the hopper was missing. The supervisor told the worker to keep their hands away from the area but permitted them to use the truck without the safety plate in place.
The company violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring that the exposed moving parts were guarded to prevent access.
According to the Canadian Waste Management Inc. website, the company is committed to protecting employees from accidental injuries and occupational hazards. The company said In order to fulfill that commitment, it makes every effort to provide a safe and healthy work environment, and supervisors and employees are dedicated to the continuing objective of reducing the risk of injury.
Supervisors, the company website notes, are responsible for ensuring that machinery and equipment are safe and that employees work in compliance with established safe work practices and procedures and receive adequate training in their specific work tasks.
In addition to the $50,000 fine, the court imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, which goes to a government fund to assist victims of crime.
StratfordToday has reached out to Canadian Waste Management Inc. and the City of Stratford for comment.
You can read the decision here: company fined.
