A Quebec service company was fined $80,000 after a worker was critically injured in a workplace accident near Iron Bridge in 2023.
Andritz Hydro Canada of Pointe-Claire, Que. pleaded guilty and was convicted in Provincial Offences Court in Sault Ste. Marie on Oct. 2.
According to a Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development news release, a worker was hurt after being struck by a failing sole plate.
According to ministry investigators, Andritz failed to ensure that the sole plate was adequately braced to prevent any movement that may affect its stability or cause its failure or collapse.
The injury occurred March 16, 2023 at a worksite on Red Rock Road, northwest of the town.
Andritz Hydro Canada was assigned to rehabilitate the hydroelectric generators at Red Rock Falls Generating Station.
According to the ministry release, on the day of the accident, two millwrights were correcting an installation performed earlier, of three metal sole plates to the underside of a stator frame.
To align and position the plates, workers insert a metal key between the top of the sole plate and the bottom of the stator frame. The three metal keys that had been used to align and position these metal sole plates had been inserted incorrectly and needed to be removed and put back into place.
The millwrights began correcting the orientation of the metal keys. On the first sole plate one of the millwrights, under the direction of the other, began loosening the bolts that held the sole plate to the stator frame.
When the bolts were fully removed, the support jack was released and the sole plate tipped inwards and fell out of its pocket, critically injuring one of the millwrights.
On top of the fine, the court imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.