Snack food maker Dare fined for injury at Kitchener, Ont. plant
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
The injured worker had been employed at the plant slightly more than a month at the time of the incident
KITCHENER, Ont.—Dare Foods Ltd. has been slapped with a $67,500 fine after a recently-hired worker was injured at an Ontario plant.
The incident happened in March of last year at the company’s cookie and cracker plant in Kitchener, Ont. during the new employee’s first solo shift.
The worker was tasked with cleaning cookie crumbs on an overhead cross conveyor and transfer conveyor about 10 feet off the ground, according to the Ministry of Labour.
Using a ladder platform, the worker wiped down the rollers and conveyor belt on the cross conveyor with a cloth and then moved on to the transfer conveyor. When reaching up to clean crumbs off the stainless-steel belt roller, however, the worker was pulled into an in-running nip hazard and suffered a fracture.
The Ontario court found Dare failed to uphold section 25 of the province’s Industrial Establishments Regulation, which stipulates any nip hazards are guarded.
The new employee had been working at the plant slightly more than a month at the time of the incident.
Dare operates six manufacturing plants and employs about 1,300 workers across the U.S. and Canada.
