Ontario scrap metal recycler fined $85,000 for worker’s death due to negligence in dump trailer maintenance

A numbered Ontario company operating a scrap metal recycling facility, in association with Global Metal Sources Co. Ltd., has been fined $85,000 plus a victim fine surcharge in the death of a worker.

In December 2020, the company purchased a used 45-foot dump trailer and had it repaired by an automotive repair centre. Repairs were limited to the trailer’s road worthiness and not its dumping functionality.

On April 5, 2021, a truck driver employed by Global Metal Sources pulled the trailer, loaded with metal, into a scrap yard in Brampton. The yard workers instructed the driver to park the trailer on level ground next to another truck/trailer that was already parked.

When instructed to proceed by the yard workers, the driver opened the back of the trailer, then got back into the cab and began elevating the front of the dump box. While the box was elevated, it fell to the side, landing on the cab of the adjacent truck and fatally injuring its driver.

An investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development found that the bearings in the pivot joint mechanism, which allowed the trailer box to be hydraulically lifted, had not been inspected, lubricated and maintained over an extended time. This led to a catastrophic failure of the support shaft and allowed the box to fall from the trailer.
1929259 Ontario Inc. violated Section 25(1)(b) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing to ensure that the dump trailer was maintained in good condition.

Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Brampton, Ont., the company was fined $85,000. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act, bringing the total fine to $106,250. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.