Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) is reminding employers to ensure workplaces are safe and that workers are trained to perform their duties safely after a workplace was prosecuted for violations under The Workplace Safety and Health Act.
On Sept. 10, 2014, a Maxim Transportation Services Inc. worker experienced burns to his face and left forearm while utilizing an oxygen acetylene cutting torch to cut a hole on the top of a metal 45-gallon barrel. As soon as the torch pierced the top of the barrel, flames shot out a filler hole burning the worker’s face and arm. The barrel had not been properly purged of its flammable contents prior to the task being performed.
On March 23, 2017, the employer plead guilty under Section 4(1)(a) of The Workplace Safety and Health Act C.C.S.M. c. W210 to the charge of failing to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the safety, health, and welfare of its worker and was ordered to pay $48,750 in fines and surcharges.
When a workplace incident occurs, WSH may conduct an investigation and can recommend prosecution if it is determined that non-compliance to Manitoba’s safety and health laws contributed to the incident having occurred.
