Fiera Foods Company Fined $300,000 After Worker Killed
September 14, 2017
TORONTO, ONTARIO – Fiera Foods Company, A Toronto commercial bakery, was fined $300,000 after an incident where a worker was killed.
On September 2, 2016, a worker employed by a temporary help agency was working at the Fiera Foods Company plant located at 50 Marmora Street in Toronto. The worker wore a hijab which was loose at the ends. The hijab became entangled under a guard covering the chain drive of a conveyor, causing fatal injuries to the worker. An emergency stop button was not accessible from the location of the entanglement.
A Ministry of Labour investigation determined that Fiera Foods Company had failed to ensure that a worker near a source of entanglement secured all loose clothing, as required by section 83(2) of the Industrial Regulation. This was in violation of section 25 (1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Fiera Foods Company pleaded guilty and was fined $300,000. The sentence was imposed by Justice of the Peace Rhonda Roffey. 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.
Maybe cultural head coverings are best not worn at work. If common sense rather than political sense was allowed this tradget occurrence likely would have been avoided.
I spoke about this with my Lebanese Christian Maronite husband yesterday when I read about this and the woman could have worn a small head scarf that didn’t interfere with machines and the same with clothing don’t wear that long gown like a nun just dress conservatively. One girl who worked with my daughter wore a small head scarf on her head and she was Islamic and dressed conservatively.