Fatality Linked to Lack of Training

Safety training is critical for any job and if you don’t provide it and a worker becomes injured or dies as a result, you and your company could face a legal nightmare. Two Ontario companies have been fined a total of $240,000, plus 25 percent victim fine surcharges, in connection with such an incident.

An evening shift worker hired from a temp agency to work at a Woodbridge, ON, plastic products manufacturer died in October 2005 after becoming pinned between a Raymond Reach Truck (a forklift operated from a standing position) and a storage rack. An Ontario Ministry of Labour investigation found that the worker had not received any training on the Raymond Reach Truck’s operation.

The investigation determined that although a supervisor had three weeks earlier tested the worker on the truck’s operation and the worker scored only 50 percent, no training was provided.

Royal Alliance Inc., now operating as Gracious Living Corporation, was fined $160,000, plus a 25 percent victim fine surcharge after pleading guilty to failing to ensure that a worker was competent to operate a Raymond Reach Truck.

The worker had been hired through Temporary Employment Agency Management Services Inc. (TEAM) and had received no training on operation of the Raymond Reach Truck from either TEAM or Royal Alliance Inc.

TEAM pleaded guilty to failing to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring that the worker would only be operating equipment he or she was hired to operate and would not be permitted to operate a different piece of equipment without training and testing to ensure competency. TEAM was fined $80,000, plus a 25 percent victim fine surcharge.