The St. Thomas company that grows plant stock for greenhouses has been fined $55,000, a year-and-a-half after one of its employees was critically injured on the job.
Ontario Plants Propagation Limited pleaded guilty in St. Thomas provincial court on Monday.
An investigation from the Ministry of Labour unveiled the employee was injured on Oct. 30, 2017, when workers were retrieving full polystyrene plant trays from the production line to place on wheeled carts.
One of the workers noticed a broken and dislodged plant tray on the centre gravity roller conveyor, near a robot programmed to place various-sized starter plant plugs into the trays.
In an attempt to remove the broken tray, the worker stood on the frame of the conveyor and leaned into the interior of the robot while using a homemade grab hook to try to grab the tray.
According to investigators, the machine was not locked and the conveyor continued to move so the worker had to lean into the interior of the robot to reach the tray. The robot cycled while the worker was leaning in, pinning them.
That is when the worker suffered critical injuries as a result of the incident.
The investigation found the company failed to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act because the robot had exposed moving parts and did not have a safety guard.
The company, on John Wise Line, employs about 100 workers, including foreign agricultural workers.
In addition to the fine, the company will also have to pay a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act to assist victims of crime.