Tri City Materials Ltd.fined $60,000

Tri City Materials Ltd., a company that works with aggregates, was fined $60,000 on July 6, 2010, for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that caused an injury to a worker.

On December 30, 2008, a worker was cleaning out a trailer that acted as a hopper for various materials. The truck attached to the trailer was left running because the hopper’s chute needed a source of power to remain open. During the cleaning process, another worker turned off the truck. This immediately closed the hopper’s chute gate, which caught first the worker’s leg.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the company’s procedure for safely cleaning the trailer required that it be locked out with its chute gate manually wedged open. The worker was not made familiar with this procedure or the hazards associated with cleaning out the trailer.

Tri City Materials Ltd. pleaded guilty to failing to acquaint the worker with the hazards associated with cleaning out the trailer.

The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Robert Gay. In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.