Toronto Star Newspapers Limited Fined $85,000 After Worker Injured

Newmarket, Ont. – Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a newspaper publishing company, was fined $85,000 for violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act after a worker was injured.

On June 6, 2011, a crew was working at the newspaper’s Vaughan Press Centre in Woodbridge, where its newsprint products are printed. A worker was assigned to clean the rollers on one of the press units to prepare for bearer pre-tensioning, which involves the adjusting of pressure between the rollers to ensure the quality of print.

The worker activated the “crawl mode,” which rotates the rollers at five revolutions a minute. The worker then cleaned the bottom roller with a rag soaked in solvent. The finger guard had been removed prior to the procedure.

The rag got caught in the rollers and was pulled into the unguarded pinch point, also drawing in the worker’s hand. The worker sustained hand injuries.

Toronto Star Newspapers Limited pleaded guilty to failing as an employer to ensure that the rollers were stopped during its cleaning, and that it was properly blocked to prevent its movement.

The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Grainne M.K. Forrest In addition to the fine, 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.

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