TORONTO - A Toronto company that packages food for shipment has been fined $150,000 after a worker was killed during a night shift.
The Ministry of Labour says the incident took place on Dec. 14, 2011 at the Marmora Freezing Company. The worker was a security guard provided by a temporary placement agency.
The ministry says after 12:15 a.m., the worker went to an area designated for employees to smoke, which was in a "travel way" on the west side of the building.
At that time, a car driven by another worker who had just completed a shift drove from a parking area into the travel way and hit the security guard from behind. The vehicle paused briefly, but then left the scene.
Immediately after, a tractor-trailer unit that had pulled away from a loading dock began to reverse along that same stretch.
The security guard's body was eventually discovered underneath a rear trailer wheel.
The Ministry of Labour says there was no protective barrier or any other safeguard in that area to protect pedestrians from vehicle traffic.
It also determined a tractor-trailer driver would have sight-line difficulties for the area behind the vehicle and found that the illumination in the area was inadequate.
The company pleaded guilty to failing as an employer to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker.
