Workplace Injury Results in $100,000 Fine for Manufacturing Company

Convicted: Irving Consumer Products Ltd. 300 Union Street, Saint John, New Brunswick, a company that manufacturers tissue products

Location of Workplace: 1551 Weston Rd Toronto, Ontario

Description of Offence: A worker sustained critical injuries when two pulp bales tipped over from a wire-cutting table. The employer failed to ensure that the bales were placed on the table so that they would not tip over as required by section 45(b) of Ontario Regulation 851 (Industrial Establishments Regulation), contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Date of Offence: September 13, 2024

Date of Conviction: September 11, 2026

Penalty Imposed:

• Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Toronto, Irving Consumer Products Ltd., was fined $100,000 by Justice of the Peace Bentley Springer; Crown Counsel was Alicia Gordon-Fagan.
• 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.

Background:

• On September 13, 2024, a worker employed through a temporary employment agency was operating a wire cutting machine at Irving Consumer Products Ltd.
• A lift truck operator delivered a stack of four pulp bales and placed them on the stand of a wire-cutting table where the worker was located.
• While on the stand, the top two bales tipped over, critically injuring the worker.
• A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found that workers hired after 2019 were not trained on a safety procedure that limited the wire-cutting table to two bales. As a result, workers routinely placed up to four bales on the table.
• Following the incident, the company made several significant improvements including redesigning the work area and purchasing a new wire chopper.