"the saw had no guard to prevent access to the pinch point"

Flying or moving saws are commonplace in extrusion plants. Here is a recent story regarding a government safety organization fining an extrusion plant for an injury. We pray this incident (as with every incident we post) will be used to make your workplace safer.

An aluminum company was fined $55,000 last month after a worker was injured while operating a saw on an aluminum extrusion press in 2022.

(the extrusion company). was slapped with the fine after a guilty plea in the Court of Justice, (location name omitted).

The Ministry of Labour says (extrusion company). failed to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed under section 24 of the Regulation for Industrial Establishments were carried out at the workplace, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

(extrusion company) uses an extrusion press to cast products out of aluminum alloy. This involves forcing aluminum material through a die and then cutting the moulded aluminum with a saw.

The press has a mechanical steel plate, called a gauge head, that rotates to clamp down on the extrusions at a pre-determined point to ensure the material is cut by the saw at the right length.

Company voluntarily enhanced its health and safety systems

According to the Ministry of Labour, in August. 2022, a worker was operating the saw to cut aluminum extrusions to the required lengths, but some of the rollers on the conveyor belt were not working on the post-cut side of the saw.

To move the extrusions along, the worker pushed the extrusions down the conveyor and got injured by the gauge head, the ministry said. 

In an investigation, the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development found that the saw had no guard to prevent access to the pinch point caused by the rotating-gauge head.

(Extrustion company) voluntarily enhanced its health and safety systems and implemented additional accident prevention initiatives following the incident, the ministry said.

In addition to the $55,000 fine, the company must also pay a 25 per cent surcharge to help fund services for victims of crime.

We pray that the injured worker recovered fully from their injuries and does not have any long term disability.

We commend the company for taking responsibility and working with the government safety organization to make their workplace safer.

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