School Board Fined $50,000 for Student’s Fracture

Three students in a manufacturing program class were assigned to remove four old caster wheels from a metal table, which had a 450-pound metal industrial shear on it. A warning label on the shear itself and the manufacturer’s manual indicated that the shear should be secured for stability and safety. But the shear wasn’t secured to the table. The students used a floor jack to raise one end of the table and cut off one of the legs. As one student was lowering the jack to see how the new caster fit on the table leg, the table tipped forward and the shear slid off of it, landing on the back of a student who was crouched down by the table’s legs. He sustained a fracture. The school board pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that the shear was secured to the surface upon which it was set and was fined $50,000 [Peel District School Board, Govt. News Release, Jan. 14, 2016].