Newmarket, Ont. - Neff Kitchen Manufacturers Limited, of Brampton, was fined $75,000 on July 7, 2009, for a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after a worker was killed.  Two supervisors at Opportunity Labour Agency Services, a Vaughan temporary help agency, were fined $10,000 each in relation to the incident.

On August 31, 2006, two Opportunity Labour workers stationed at Neff Kitchen were to unload a shipping container that Neff Kitchen had sent to another company.  That company's own workers had not been allowed to unload the container because their supervisor deemed the load unsafe.  One Opportunity Labour worker went inside the container alone and was cutting the banding around a stack of plywood when the bundle came apart and fell on the worker, pushing him into the side of the container and fatally crushing him.

Neff Kitchen Manufacturers Limited pleaded guilty under the OHSA to failing to ensure that the plywood could be removed without endangering the worker's safety.  Two Opportunity Labour supervisors pleaded guilty to not advising the worker of potential or actual danger when unloading the container.

The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Karen Walker. 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.

Court Information at a Glance

Location:                    Ontario Court of Justice

                                    465 Davis Drive, T2

                                    Newmarket, ON                

Judge:                        

Justice of the Peace Karen Walker

Date of Conviction:

July 7, 2009

Defendants:

Neff Kitchens Manufacturers Limited,

Gajendran Indrakumaran and Thushanthan Ketheeswran

Matter:

Occupational Health and Safety

Conviction:                

Neff Kitchens Manufacturers Limited:

Ontario Regulation 851, section 45(b)(ii)

Gajendran Indrakumaran and Thushanthan Ketheeswran:

OHSA, Section 27(2)(a)

Crown Counsels:

Lori Hamilton