Windsor Contracting Company Fined After Worker Critically Injured

Hello time traveller!!
This article is 2135 days old.
The information listed below is likely outdated and has been preserved for archival purposes.

CMF Group Inc. has been fined $75,000 by the Ministry of Labour after an employee was critically injured.

According to court reports, a CMF Group crew were installing the second of two new milling machines using two 20-ton overhead cranes at Service Mold + Aerospace Inc.’s plant on St. Etienne Blvd, October 26th, 2016.

The rigging consisted of a horizontal I-beam used as a spreader bar, hoisted by the two cranes. The two cranes were being operated independently of each other, and the two remote controls had not been synchronized to work in tandem, which would control their speeds.

While the milling machine was being lifted in this manner, one of the two cranes started to move up faster than the other, causing the horizontal spreader beam between them to become unbalanced, with one end of the beam higher than the other.

The beam slid, fell and struck a worker who had been standing on a part of the machine, knocking the worker to the floor. The worker suffered critical injuries.

The Ministry of Labour investigation into the incident determined that the cranes were equipped with anti-collision sensors, which would prevent cranes or their loads from operating within five feet of each other.

They also say that the anti-collision sensors on these cranes had been covered up, and the sensors did not activate.

The court also imposed a 25% 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.