Custom metal manufacturing firm fined $110K after worker killed in forklift accident

A custom metal manufacturing company in Vars, Ont., has been fined $110,000 after a worker was killed in an accident involving a forklift.

On June 1, 2022, a worker and the president of Performance Finishing & Fabrication were working together to place a metal beam (33’7″ x 10″ x 2.5″) beside another metal beam, to manufacture a steel trailer frame for a mobile home.

The company president was transporting a metal beam on a forklift. The worker was on the ground to steady the beam being lifted.

The metal beam was not secured to the forklift, and the unsecured metal beam went over the head of the worker before falling off the forklift to the ground, striking the worker and causing fatal injuries.

By failing to ensure the metal beam would not fall while being transported by a forklift, Performance Finishing & Fabrication Inc. contravened section 45(b)(i) of Regulation 851, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Following a guilty plea, Performance Finishing & Fabrication Inc. was fined $110,000. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.