Ontario Scrap Metal Recycler Fined for Workplace Fatality

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): An Ontario scrap metal recycler that operates in association with Global Metal Sources Co. Ltd has been fined $85,000 in connection with a workplace fatality.

The incident took place on April 5, 2021, at a scrap metal yard at 471 Intermodal Drive, Brampton, Ontario. A driver was fatally injured when a box from an adjacent 45-foot dump trailer fell on the trailer cab while it was being lifted. The company had failed to maintain the dump trailer in good condition, which in turn resulted in the incident.

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Further to a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Brampton, Ontario, the company was fined $85,000 by the justice. The Court also ordered the company to pay 25% victim fine surcharge as per terms of the Provincial Offenses Act, which will be credited to a special fund to assist victims of crime.

Investigations revealed that the company had carried out only routine repair works at an automotive repair centre on the truck which it purchased in December 2020. The repairs were limited to the trailer’s road worthiness and not on its dumping functionality. The catastrophic failure of the support shaft and allowed the box to fall from the trailer, which in turn led to death of the worker.

The company violated Section 25(1)(b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing to maintain the dump trailer in good condition.