City of Sudbury fined nearly $190K after worker killed by sand spreader

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The municipality of Sudbury in Ontario has been fined a total of $187,500 after a worker was killed by a sand spreader.

After attending a City of Greater Sudbury worker appreciation breakfast on May 6, 2022, a worker was advised by their supervisor to get a ride back to the Levack public works depot and then they could go home – their workday was done.

However, the worker informed their co-worker, who dropped the worker off, that they intended to remove the sand from the Wille municipal tractor unit that was stored in the Levack Depot.

The Wille unit was equipped with a rear-mounted sand spreader attachment with a spinning auger to distribute sand on the sidewalk as it traveled.

The worker was fatally injured when they became entangled in the machinery at the unguarded opening of the sand hopper that was attached to the Wille tractor, while the auger inside the sand hopper was powered on.

There were no witnesses to the incident.

The Corporation of the City of Greater Sudbury failed, as an employer, to ensure that where a machine has an exposed moving part that may endanger the safety of any worker, it is equipped with, and guarded by, a guard or other device that prevents access to the moving part, as prescribed by section 24 of Ontario Regulation 851, and contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Following a guilty plea, the Corporation of the City of Greater Sudbury was fined $150,000. 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.