A Brampton-based brick company has been fined over a quarter of a million dollars for two workplace incidents, one of which was fatal.
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour has fined Brampton Brick $225,000 after a worker was fatally injured at the company’s manufacturing facility in Brampton in June 2023.
According to a release from the Ministry, the worker was helping to remove cement build-up on equipment and climbed onto a mud conveyor in the plant’s mixer area. The worker was unaware that a skip hoist, a device used for lifting materials, was in automatic mode and that the hoist bucket itself was overhead. When the hoist automatically engaged, the bucket lowered, which resulted in the worker’s death. The worker was unaware that a skip hoist, a device for lifting materials, was in automatic mode, and the hoist bucket itself was overhead.
A subsequent investigation by the Ministry found that the mixer area was not equipped with adequate machine guarding.
Brampton Brick pleaded guilty in provincial court and was fined $225,000. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, which assists victims of crime.
The second incident involving the clay brick and concrete block manufacturer occurred in April 2023.
At that time, a worker suffered critical injuries while cleaning a mold that was being used on a block machine at the company’s facility in Brockville, Ont.
An investigation by the Ministry found that a co-worker mistakenly moved two switches on the machine’s control panel in the wrong direction, which led to the critical injuries suffered by the other worker.
The Ministry determined that although the employer had procedures, training and signage to the contrary, Brampton Brick Limited failed to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker with respect to safely cleaning the mold of the block machine.
Brampton Brick pleaded guilty in provincial court and was fined $65,000, which also carries a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge.
