A Nepean, Ont., prefabricated home manufacturer has been fined $60,000 after a worker was injured by an automatic nailing machine that wasn’t properly locked out during repairs.
Advanced Building Innovation Company Inc. pleaded guilty in Ottawa Provincial Offences Court on Aug. 28 to failing to ensure proper lockout procedures, according to the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development.
The incident occurred July 31, 2023, at the company’s facility on Borrisokane Road when a maintenance worker was repairing an automatic nailing machine used to assemble wall frames. A coworker, unaware that repairs were underway, started the machine and injured the maintenance worker, the ministry said.
Lockout procedures ignored
The ministry’s investigation found the company had established lockout procedures and safety systems but failed to use them properly. The company had lock-out/tag-out and de-energizing procedures in place, along with a light curtain system designed to prevent access during machine operation, according to the ministry.
However, the machine was not locked out during the repair work, and the light curtain system did not effectively prevent access at the time of the incident, the investigation found.
Court penalty
Justice of the Peace Serge Legault imposed the $60,000 fine following the company’s guilty plea to violating section 76 of Ontario Regulation 851 and section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the ministry said.
The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, which goes to a provincial fund that assists crime victims. Crown counsel Alicia Gordon-Fagan and student-at-law Sarah Abdul-Jalil represented the prosecution.
