NEWS RELEASE
ONTARIO MINISTRY OF LABOUR
************************* Inco fined $70,000 after workplace incident
SUDBURY, ON, August 13 - Inco Limited pleaded guilty and was fined $70,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice, August 12, 2008, in connection with a workplace incident.
Justice of the Peace D. LaFleur heard that on June 30, 2005, two workers at the Copper Cliff smelter in Sudbury were doing maintenance work on a flash furnace.
The workers were to adjust buckstays, tie rod systems connected to structural steel members.
The workers used 50-tonne hydraulic jacks to make the adjustments.
In one instance, the jacks were placed in the buckstay cradle incorrectly and, when pressure was released from the jacks, a fitting on the hydraulic hose connected to the jacks sheered off as it was pinched between the cradle and the jacking plate.
A Ministry of Labour investigation found that one of the workers had not been provided training on Inco's procedure for this work.
Inco Limited pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health or safety of the worker, contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25 percent victim fine surcharge on the total, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.
The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.
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