A Chatham greenhouse has been fined $ 70,000 for an injury suffered by a worker nearly two years ago.
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A Chatham greenhouse has been fined $ 70,000 for an injury suffered by a worker nearly two years ago.
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Truly Green, located on Bloomfield Road, pleaded guilty in the case, which involved an employee who was seriously hurt on Jan. 6, 2020.
According to a release from the Ministry of Labor, Training and Skills Development, the matter came up Nov. 24 in provincial offenses court in Blenheim before justice of the peace Salma Jafar.
The release stated the worker was asked to clean the irrigation room in the greenhouse. This room contained four plastic tanks, each approximately 2.5 meters high, with a capacity of almost 9,500 liters.
On top and between two of the tanks was a rotating shaft powered by an electric motor and gear box. That shaft was connected to a set of paddles inside the tank, which acted as agitators to stir the contents.
“On the date of the incident, the power to the shaft was not locked out, and the shaft was rotating while cleaning was being done,” the release stated. “While kneeling and leaning over the tank rails to clean the tank, the worker fell inside the shaft and sustained critical injuries.
“The worker had not previously worked in the irrigation room and was not provided with written instructions for the cleaning of the tanks. No specific procedures were in place or communicated to workers for this task. ”
The Occupational Health and Safety Act states: “An employer shall provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health or safety of the worker at a workplace.”
The defendant was ruled to have failed to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker, an offense contrary to Section 66 (1) of the act.
The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offenses Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.