Caterer Fined $58,000 after Worker’s Fingers Are Amputated

A worker for a catering company was performing seasonal maintenance on exhaust fans located on the building’ roof. He turned off electrical power to the fan, but didn’t wait for the motion to stop before starting work. One of his hands was caught by the exposed moving drive belt and his fingers were amputated. The caterer pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that a part of a machine was adjusted, repaired or had maintenance work performed on it only when motion that may endanger a worker had stopped. It was fined $58,000 [Gate Gourmet Canada Inc., Govt. News Release, Dec. 10, 2014].