Bradford company fined $125,000 following trainee's 2022 workplace death

Wooden gavel. (File photo)

A Bradford company has been fined $125,000 following a workplace fatality two years ago involving a trainee.

According to a government release, Gwillimdale Farms Ltd pleaded guilty last month in connection with the deadly incident that happened on August 30, 2022.

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The company located on Line 11 operates a commercial farm and vegetable washing, grading and packaging facility.

The court heard workers were preparing the potato line in the weeks leading up to the incident, including lubricating the line, which was done while the machine was running, and that on August 30, a trainee who was assigned other duties began lubricating the machine alone and suffered fatal injuries.

An investigation revealed that the line's uptake conveyor wasn't equipped with a guard to prevent access to the pinch point.

"Gwillimdale Farms LTD failed, as an employer, to ensure the measures and procedures prescribed by section 25 of Ontario Regulation 851 were carried out in the workplace," the government release states.

The company has since taken steps to enhance safety, including additional guarding and reviewing its training practices.

The court also imposed a required 25 per cent victim surcharge. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.