Meat Company in Brampton Fined $55,000 After Worker Suffers Injury

Ministry of Labour

BRAMPTON, ON – A meat packing company in Concord was found guilty after a trial and fined $55,000 after a young worker was injured while using a forklift.

Concord Premium Meats Ltd., which operates a facility at 220 Wilkinson Road in Brampton, also does business as Cucina Marcangelo Foods and Concord Premium Foods. On May 22, 2013, a young worker was performing assigned work duties as a shipper/receiver. The worker was operating a lifting device known as a “walkie forklift” to move meat. The young worker collided with material being moved by a co-worker and suffered a broken ankle.

After a trial, the company was found guilty of failing as an employer to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by Ontario’s Industrial Establishments Regulation (Regulation 851) were carried out. These included failing to ensure the floor or other surface used by any worker was not slippery and kept free of obstructions, hazards and accumulations; failing to ensure barriers, warning signs or other safeguards for the protection of all workers were used where vehicle or pedestrian traffic may endanger the safety of any worker; and failing to ensure that material, articles or things being lifted, carried or moved were handled in such a way that workers were not endangered.

All these were offences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The act includes a requirement that an employer provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health or safety of the worker, which the company was found guilty of failing to do.

The company was found guilty of four counts on June 13, 2017. The $55,000 fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Stephen Budaci in Brampton court on August 2, 2017.

The court also imposed a 25-per-cent 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.

New and young workers in Ontario are more likely to be injured during the first few months on the job than other workers, and are three times more likely to be injured during their first month on the job than at any other time.

Court Information at a Glance

 

Location:

Provincial Offences Court/Ontario Court of Justice

5 Ray Lawson Blvd.

Brampton, Ontario

 

Judge:

Justice of the Peace Stephen Budaci

 

Date of Sentencing:

August 2, 2017

Defendant:

Concord Premium Meats Ltd.

Head Office:

125 Edilcan Drive

Concord, Ontario

 

Workplace:

220 Wilkinson Road

Brampton, Ontario

Matter:

Occupational health and safety

 

Convictions:

Industrial Establishments Regulation (Regulation 851)        

Section 11

Section 20

Section 45(a)

 

Occupational Health and Safety Act

Section 25 (1)(c)

Section 25 (2)(a)

 

Crown Counsel:

Aaron Dewitt

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