Stelco fined $200,000 after worker killed by conveyor belt in Hamilton

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Stelco has been fined $200,000 by an Ontario court after a worker was killed in an accident two years ago at its Hamilton facility.

On Jan. 15, 2022, a worker employed by Stelco Inc. was working alone in the coal handling area of the plant and noticed a conveyor belt was slipping off its pulley.

To fix the problem, it is believed the coal handler got a can of belt dressing (adhesion spray) and applied it between the belt and the pulley while the conveyor belt was still moving.

About three hours later, a supervisor entered the work area and noticed the worker had been injured by the conveyor. They immediately called 911 but efforts to resuscitate the worker were unsuccessful.

An investigation by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development revealed the conveyor was in motion without a guard to prevent access to the head end of the machine at the time of the incident.

Stelco Inc. did not ensure there was a means to safely apply belt dressing while the conveyor was in motion, as required under section 196(2)(a) of Ontario Regulation 854, Mines and Mining Plants, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Following the incident, the employer improved lone-worker policies and physical machine guarding throughout its operations.

Following a guilty plea, Stelco Inc. was fined $200,000. 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.