A COURT in St. Catherines, Ontario has ordered a company to pay a fine of $150,000 (N23 million) over the death of its worker.

The court, presided over by Justice of Peace Mary Shelley, last Tuesday gave the order after Ingredion Canada Inc. pleaded guilty to the death of the staff, employed as a process operator.  He died on November 8, 2013.

The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act on the company which produces fructose sweeteners.

The surcharge will be credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime, the court said.

By its negligence, the court said that the company contravened the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act Section 25(1)(c), as a result of which the company deserved the punishment specifically as it failed, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures prescribed by section 12 of Regulation 851 (the Industrial Establishments Regulation) were carried out, in order to ensure safety at work.

The worker was assisting in the movement of a rail car when the tragedy that led to his death occurred, the court was told by the crown.

The court records indicated that the process operator was riding on the fixed ladder on the north side of the rail car and had visual contact with the Trackmobile operator, but as the rail car moved through the building, the worker struck one of the steel posts below the gangway and was squeezed between the post and the rail car.

The worker suffered severe injuries and died 10 days later.

Specifically, the clearance between moving rail cars and the stationary posts of the loading platform in the building was not sufficient to ensure that the safety of workers in the area was not endangered.