Employers fined for safety violations

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This article was published 23/05/2019 (1797 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two Manitoba employers are being penalized and fined a total of $120,000 for workplace safety violations that killed one worker and severely injured two others.

Thompson-based Clarence’s Automatic Transmission and General Auto Repairs Ltd. and Morden-based Decor Cabinets Ltd. were singled out by the provincial government in a news release Friday reminding employers to keep their workplaces safe.

On November 11, 2015, an employee from Clarence’s was asked to cut a 55-gallon steel drum in two pieces using a hand-held angle grinder. As the worker tried to cut the drum, fumes trapped inside caught fire and caused an explosion. The employee was killed.

Clarence Jackson pleaded guilty for failing to keep the employee safe and not implementing safe working procedures for welding in the workplace. He was ordered to pay $20,000.

During separate incidents in 2016, workers at Decor Cabinets sustained severe hand injuries.

On April 11, an employee making cabinet drawers accidentally pinched their hands in a clamping machine, causing injuries to both hands. Then on Sept. 22, a worker cleaning the interior of a bander machine unintentionally touched a cutting head, severely injuring their hand and fingers.

Their employer pleaded guilty for failing to keep staff safe.

Decor Cabinets paid $25,000 in fines and penalties in the first case and $50,000 in the second, plus an extra $25,000 payable to Workplace Safety and Health “to help educate the public about the importance of workplace safety and health,” the province wrote.