A Hamilton, Ont. steel manufacturer has been fined close to $300K after pleading guilty in two separate workplace incidents from 2018.
ArcelorMittal Dofasco was fined $170K for a May 2018 blast furnace malfunction, and another $120K for the December 2018 incident involving a coil prep line.
The Ministry of Labour (MOL) says the May 23 incident involved two workers cleaning a platform on the outside of a blast furnace. Valves on the furnace malfunctioned while the workers were sweeping, and gas and dust from the furnace engulfed the workers.
After examinations from a MOL hygienist, it was determined the workers inhaled Carbon Monoxide (CO) concentrations higher than limits set by the province’s occupational exposure limits (OEL).
The MOL said ArcelorMittal failed to comply with regulations that require employers to take measures to limit the exposure of workers to hazardous biological or chemical agents.
The second incident in December 2018 happened on a coil prep line. A worker was feeding flat stock material into a pair of rollers when he accidentally hit a reverse switch and made “contact with the pinch point of the two rollers,” according to the ministry.
Investigators later determine there were no perimeter gates, access panels and guardrails on one side of the apparatus, which are required by Ontario’s safety act.
The ministry says ArcelorMittal “failed as an employer” to follow regulations in accordance with the occupational health and safety act.
Meanwhile, ArcelorMittal Dofasco was the subject of two other workplace accidents investigated by the MOL in 2019.
The first reportedly occurred on Jan. 1, 2019, at about 4:30 p.m. near the plant on Kenilworth Avenue.
Hamilton police say a third-party contractor was driving a dump-style machine when it was involved in a collision and toppled over.
An unidentified 23-year-old Hamilton man was extricated from the machine and taken to hospital with serious, but not life-threatening injuries, police said.
Then, at about 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 2, police went to the Dofasco plant on Burlington Street for a reported truck accident.
A 26-year-old Hamilton woman was taken to hospital and was treated and released, officials said.
The Ministry of Labour says both 2019 investigations were also completed with no orders were issued.
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