Concrete Plant Is Fined $60,000 for Guarding Violation

A mobile crushing plant was installed and operated for 30 days at a concrete plant. Part of the mobile plant included a long conveyor installed at an incline on a built-up pad or base of earth. Due to weather and rain, material was building up on various belts and rollers, causing alignment issues. A worker noticed the roller on the conveyor had two to three inches of mud building up and wanted to remove the material before shutting down the equipment for the day, knowing it would freeze overnight and be more difficult to remove. As he knocked mud off the roller with a hammer while the conveyor was in operation, the hammer sunk into the mud and was pulled around the roller’and the worker was pulled along with it. The concrete plant pleaded guilty to failing to ensure a guard or fence was in place to protect a worker from an exposed moving part and was fined $60,000 [Colacem Canada Inc., Govt. News Release, Feb. 4, 2016].