Maple Leaf Foods fined for worker injury at plant outside Hamilton, Ont.
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
A worker was injured while loading deboned chicken into a hopper at the at the meat processor's facility in Hannon, Ont.
HAMILTON—Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has been hit with a $120,000 fine after a worker was injured at its plant just outside of Hamilton, Ont. last spring.
The incident involved a worker using a piece of equipment to load deboned chicken into a hopper.
According to the Ministry of Labour, the worker placed a combo bin full of chicken on pallet in order to raise the bin and dump it into the hopper. However, when the chicken was being dumped into the hopper, the bin collapsed, causing chicken to get stuck inside and prompting the worker to try to correct its position by hand. The worker was injured while trying to reposition the combo when it slid down, striking the worker’s arm.
The investigation found the procedure for moving the chicken did not have the necessary precautions in place to protect the safety of the worker.
The meat processing company pleaded guilty to the violation in a Hamilton courtroom this week.
