TORONTO, July 3 /CNW/ - Three former Toronto-based garment manufacturing companies and a director were convicted of 12 violations of the Employment Standards Act in connection with wages owed to nine former employees. The employees worked at Unit #4 -159 Bridgeland Ave., Toronto, earning $9.00 to $10.00 an hour. They filed claims with the Ministry of Labour (MOL) for unpaid wages. MOL issued to:

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- Swag Merchandising Inc., between April 2004 and September 2005, four orders to pay totalling $48,356.43.
- Beautiful South Inc., between July and September 2004, two orders to pay totalling $40,178.73.
- Defunkt Inc., in May 2005, one order to pay $50,522.19.

Through various collection activities, MOL was able to collect $7,399.57. Following trial, Justice of the Peace Milan Then found Swag Merchandising Inc. guilty of four counts (fined: $100,000), Beautiful South Inc. guilty of two counts (fined: $70,000) and Defunkt Inc. guilty of one count (fined $100,000) of:

- failing to comply with an order to pay as required by section 103(8) of the act. This was contrary to section 132 of the act.

John Scott MacDonald - director of Beautiful South Inc. was fined $65,000 and sentenced to 30 days in jail on being found guilty of:

- one count of failing to comply with an order to pay as required by section 103(8) of the act, contrary to section 132 of the act;

- two counts of authorizing, permitting or acquiescing in the company's failure to comply with an order to pay as requested by section 103(8). This was contrary to section 137(1) of the act.

- two counts of failing to comply with an order to pay issued to him as a director as required by section 106 of the act. This was contrary to section 136 of the act.

The court imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge on each fine, as
required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a
special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

SARNIA, ON, July 9 /CNW/ - The County of Lambton pleaded guilty and was fined $135,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice, July 7, 2008, in connection with the death of a county worker.

Justice of the Peace Sidney Ponson heard that on July 21, 2006, the worker, employed by the county's public works department, was electrocuted after coming into contact with wet sand and an electrically charged dump truck he was working with. Workers were laying gravel along the shoulder of Petrolia Line in Brooke-Alvinton Township. The worker was atop a spreader unit. An adjacent, sub-contracted dump truck had raised its box and was dumping wet sand when the top of the box touched live overhead electrical wires. Unaware of the danger, the public works employee stepped off the spreader into the wet sand pouring out of the now electrically charged dump truck and was electrocuted.

The Corporation of the County of Lambton pleaded guilty, as a constructor, to failing to ensure that a signaller was provided and stationed at all times to warn of overhead wire contact, contrary to section 188(8) of Ontario regulation 213/91 and section 23(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent 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.

HAMILTON, ON, July 9 /CNW/ - A Calgary-based explosives company pleaded guilty and was fined $90,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice, July 7, 2008, after a worker unloading explosives from the back of a truck was injured.

Judge Richard E. Jennis heard that on March 9, 2007, two employees of Dyno Nobel Canada Inc., had delivered explosives in a truck from the company's distribution depot in Hagersville to a quarry at Moxley Road and Concession 4, Hamilton. They were to distribute 25 kilogram boxes of explosives from the back of the truck to each hole in the ground where they would be needed. The worker in the back of the truck believed he was to bang on the truck to signal the driver to move forward after each drop. But the driver believed seeing each box arrive on the ground meant he could drive ahead without any other signal. At one point, a box was dropped at the wrong location on the ground. The driver moved the truck forward as the unloading worker began to step off the truck to reposition the box. The worker lost footing, and fell from the truck, coming down with full weight on one leg, breaking it.

The Ministry of Labour's investigation concluded that the company had not provided adequate information, instruction and supervision to protect the health or safety of the worker, specifically, a safe procedure for unloading a packaged explosives truck. This was contrary to section 25(2)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent 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.

BURLINGTON, ON, July 25 /CNW/ - Ford Motor Company of Canada Limited pleaded guilty and was fined $175,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice today after a worker was injured at the company's Oakville plant on September 19, 2006.

Justice of the Peace Robert Ponton heard that the employee suffered a broken ankle while working at a roll testing station in the Oakville Assembly Complex on Canadian Road. At the roll test station, a diagnostic machine
simulates road tests on finished vehicles. In this instance, a vehicle on the test station had brake problems and it was decided to push it rather than drive it away. The worker was pushing at the back of the vehicle when a sensor
automatically activated and a floor exhaust vent began to retract, creating an unguarded accessible pinch point. The worker's foot and leg became trapped.

Ford pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure the retractable floor exhaust vent at the dynamic rolls test station that could endanger a worker was equipped with, and guarded by, a guard or device that prevents access to the pinch point, as required by section 25 of Ontario Regulation 851. This was contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent 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.

KITCHENER, ON, July 25 /CNW/ - Kitchener Frame Limited, a Vaughan, Ontario-based maker of auto parts, pleaded guilty and was fined $50,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice, July 22, 2008, in connection with an injury to a worker on January 7, 2007.

Justice of the Peace Robert Gay heard that the company's workplace at 1011 Homer Watson Blvd., Kitchener, contains a 146-metre-long overhead conveyor system. Every few years, the conveyor chains are replaced. On this
day, a jam occurred during the replacement work. A worker freed the jam, but the worker's leg was pinned and broken between two steel rails as the conveyor moved.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that although the conveyor had been stopped, it was not blocked to prevent movement. This was found to have contributed to the incident and was contrary to section 75 of Regulations 851 and section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per-cent 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.

BRANTFORD, ON, July 22 /CNW/ - Stellarc Precision Bar Inc., a company based in Brantford, Ont., was fined $65,000 in the Ontario Court of Justice on July 17, 2008, after pleading guilty in the case of an incident in which a
worker was injured.

The incident occurred in February 2006 at Stellarc's custom steel processing plant at 101 Wayne Gretzky Parkway in Brantford. The worker was injured when a rotating steel bar being discharged from a straightening machine caught the employee's clothing, twisting it tightly around the employee and dragging the worker onto part of the machine. The worker suffered serious crushing injuries.

An investigation by the Ministry of Labour concluded that the straightener machine was not shielded or guarded so that product, material being processed, or waste stock would not endanger any worker. The company pleaded guilty to committing the offence of failing, as an employer, to ensure that the equipment, materials and protective devices prescribed by section 26 of Ontario Regulation 851, as amended, were provided, contrary to paragraph 25(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25-per cent 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.