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Sawmill operator fined for workplace safety violation

Lecours Lumber of Hearst was fined $50,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that caused injury to a worker in 2009. The company owns and operates a sawmill in Calstock. At a Nov.
Northern Ontario Business Staff

Lecours Lumber of Hearst was fined $50,000 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that caused injury to a worker in 2009.

The company owns and operates a sawmill in Calstock.

At a Nov. 23 hearing in Hearst, justice of the peace Jean-Marie Blier heard that on June 24, 2009, a worker cleaning debris from a debarker was caught in a pinch point when the machine suddenly restarted. The worker's shoulder was injured.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found the debarker did not have a guard to protect the worker from accessing the pinch point.

Lecours Lumber pleaded guilty for failing to ensure that the debarker was equipped with, and guarded by, a guard or other device to prevent access to the pinch point.