Industrial Ontario bakery fined after temp worker hurt by dough machine
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
The worker was cleaning a dough chunker on a production line at FGF Brands when the machine was reset and the blades rotated shut
CONCORD, Ont.—A large-scale Ontario bakery has been hit with a $70,000 fine for a worker injury at its plant north of Toronto last year.
FGF Brands Inc., which makes naan, flatbread and a number of other products, pleaded guilty to violating the province’s safety act after a temporary worker suffered critical injuries while cleaning a line of machinery at the company’s manufacturing plant in Concord, Ont.
The incident took place in July of last year. According to the Ministry of Labour, the temp worker had been tasked with cleaning a number of machines on the production line, including a hopper and dough chunker.
The worker started cleaning the internal belt of the hopper, but in order to clean the other side, needed other workers to advance the belt. When the other workers were getting the belt started up, the temp worker moved onto to clean the dough chunker. However, while the temp worker’s arms were reached into the chunker to clean off dried dough, a reset button on the control panel was pressed, causing the blades in the machine to rotate close, trapping the worker. The chunker needed to be dismantled before the worker was freed.
The worker sustained critical injuries and was sent to hospital.
The province found FGF Brands did not take adequate measures to protect the worker by ensuring the machine was locked out before cleaning.
