Roofing company fined after worker injured

TORONTO — I.G. Machine & Fibers Ltd., a company that produces residential and commercial roofing products, has been fined $65,000 after a worker was pulled into the rollers of a laminator machine and suffered critical injuries.
Following a guilty plea, the company was fined by Justice of the Peace Richard Quon in a Brampton court Jan. 9.
According to a release issued by the Ministry of Labour, on Aug. 8, 2016 a worker was operating a laminator machine at I.G. Machine’s workplace in Brampton. The machine was designed to automatically join asphalt and fiberglass materials together by the process of heat-welding, which produces roof membranes for commercial roofing applications that prevent moisture penetration.
The process involved feeding roofing material through large rollers. While adjusting product that was being fed through, the worker’s arms were pulled between the rollers. The machine had previously been guarded with an anti-nip bar that prevented access to the rollers, but it had been removed at the time of the incident. The worker sustained critical injuries as a result of the incident.
According to the ministry, Section 25 of Ontario Regulation 851/90 (the Industrial Establishments Regulation) requires that any part of a machine, device or thing that may endanger the safety of any worker shall be equipped with and guarded by a guard or other device that prevents access to the pinch point.
I.G. Machine failed as an employer to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed by the regulation were carried out at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

By DCN News Services
Daily Commercial News