Plant Fined $110,000 after Worker’s Fingers Are Amputated

At a meat processing plant, a worker was operating a meat chopper machine, which had a cage that enclosed a moving blade. The worker noticed that some meat had become stuck in the blade. He lifted the safety cage and tried to use a hook to pull the meat from the blade, which continued to turn. The hook got caught by the moving blade, causing the worker’s hand to come into contact with it. He lost several fingers. The MOL concluded that the plant failed as an employer to ensure that a part of a machine was cleaned only when motion that may endanger a worker had stopped. As a result, the plant was fined $110,000 [Maple Leaf Foods Inc., Govt. News Release, March 24, 2014].