Toronto Manufacturing Company Fined $90,000 for Worker Safety Offence

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Convicted: Siltech Corporation, 225 Wicksteed Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, a chemical manufacturing company.

Location of Workplace: The company's manufacturing facility at 225 Wicksteed Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.

Description of Offence: Siltech Corporation failed, as an employer, to ensure containers were bonded and grounded as required by section 22(4)(b) of Ontario regulation 851, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Date of Offence: September 8, 2021

Date of Conviction: November 18, 2024

Penalty Imposed:

• Following a trial in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto, Siltech Corporation was fined $90,000 by Justice Robert Kelly; Crown Counsel was Graeme Adams.

Background:

• On September 8, 2021, two workers were transferring flammable liquid from a large container into two smaller metal pails. While they were filling the second pail, an explosion occurred, injuring one of the workers and fatally injuring the other.
• Section 22(4)(b) of Ontario regulation 851 requires containers and dispensing equipment to be bonded and grounded when flammable liquid is dispensed. This prevents static electricity that could ignite the vapours and cause an explosion.
• A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found that the workers had used a plastic hand pump to transfer the liquid. Plastic cannot be bonded or grounded. The investigation found that the metal pails were also not grounded or bonded to the other equipment in the setup.
• Though it remains unproven that the cause of the explosion was static electricity, Siltech Corporation still failed, as an employer, to ensure the pails and pump were bonded and grounded as required by as required by section 22(4)(b)of Ontario regulation 851, contrary to section 25(1)(c)of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

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