Toyota fined $65K after Woodstock, Ont., worker’s arm fractured
by The Canadian Press
Automaker pleaded guilty to failing to ensure measures under Occupational Health and Safety Act were carried out
WOODSTOCK, Ont.—Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc. has been fined $65,000 after a worker was caught in a moving production line and fractured an arm in multiple places.
The automaker pleaded guilty to failing as an employer to ensure that measures under the Occupational Health and Safety Act were carried out.
The incident took place on Oct. 1, when an employee on an instrument panel line at Toyota’s Woodstock, Ont., plant was carrying out assembly-related tasks on a chain-driven conveyor.
The Ministry of Labour says the worker noticed part of the production line was running in slow mode rather than the normal production mode.
Hoping to prevent stalling or a shutdown, the worker then reached under the line to press a reset button while the line was still in operation.
In doing so, one of the worker’s arms became trapped between the moving line and the stationary power platform.
It was fractured in multiple places and required surgery.
The Ministry of Labour says that by law, an employer must ensure that a machine is stopped when it is being adjusted or repaired if motion of the machine may endanger a worker.
