Stratford, ON – Parmalat Canada Inc., a Toronto dairy manufacturer, was fined $120,000 for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a worker was injured.On February 28, 2011, at the company’s Mitchell, ON, facility, a worker was sanitizing a pipe system in the plant. The cleaning process involved running heated water through the pipes to clear them of the previous product. After the worker hooked up the pipes and turned on the Clean in Place, a system used to clean the pipes, the worker noticed that not all the pipes were getting hot. The worker realized there was an incorrect hookup, shut off the Clean in Place and dissembled two connecting elbows in the pipe system. A third elbow flew off and leaked hot water on the worker, causing first and second degree burns.
A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the pipe system did not have its direction of flow positively identified. Furthermore, an inspector’s order issued in 2009 for the company to identify the direction of flow in its pipe system had not been complied with.
Parmalat Canada Inc. pled guilty to failing to ensure the direction of flow was positively identified on the pipe system. The company was fined $110,000 for this offense.
Parmalat Canada Inc. also pled guilty to failing to comply with an order by an inspector and was fined $10,000.
The fines were imposed by Justice of the Peace Michael Cuthbertson. In addition to the fines, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.