BURLINGTON, ON, July 27 /CNW/ - General Electric Canada Inc., a large, Mississauga-based company with a light bulb manufacturing plant in Oakville, Ont., was fined $50,000 on July 26, 2004 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in arm injuries to an employee.
On May 29, 2003, a worker was using a broom handle to clear some bulbs that had gone askew on a "high-speed horizontal line" (a large machine that makes fluorescent light bulbs) when the worker's forearm was caught by rotating spindles on the machine, which was in operation. The worker suffered lacerations and tendon damage to the right forearm, but was able to return to work within a week. A Ministry of Labour investigation found it was standard operating procedure at the time to clear bulbs while the machine was in
operation. The incident occurred at the company's plant on South Service Road East in Oakville.
General Electric Canada Inc. pleaded guilty, as an employer, to failing to ensure the high-speed horizontal line was properly guarded to prevent access to moving parts, as required by Section 24 of the Regulations for
Industrial Establishments. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(a) of the act.
The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Prior Bonus of the Ontario Court of Justice in Burlington. In addition, 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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