A temporary worker was clearing debris off a cardboard baling line with a rake. The conveyor was running. It was not guarded. The gate to the underside was unlocked, and the line had never been locked out.
He reached in to free the debris. The rake caught between the rollers and the belt, and it pulled him in with it. He did not survive.
What Happened
On August 28, 2023, at Nexcycle Industries Inc., a recycling company at 325 Orenda Road in Brampton, a general labourer was working the cardboard baling line. He had been placed there by Connect Place Inc., an employment placement agency. He was a temporary worker in someone else's plant, doing a job that put him within reach of moving machinery.
Debris had jammed between the rollers and the belt on the conveyor. He used a rake to clear it. The conveyor was unguarded and it was still running. The rake was drawn into the pinch point, and the worker was pulled in between the rollers and the belt, sustaining fatal injuries.
The Ministry of Labour investigation found the gate leading to the underside of the conveyor was unlocked and the line had not been locked out. The machine that killed him could have been stopped, blocked, and locked before anyone went near it. It was not.
What the Law Says
Nexcycle was charged under section 75 of R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 851 (Industrial Establishments) and section 25(1)(c) of the OHSA. Connect Place was charged under section 11(a)(iii) of R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 851.
Section 75 allows a part of a machine to be cleaned, oiled, adjusted, repaired or maintained only when motion that may endanger a worker has stopped and any part that has been stopped and that may subsequently move and endanger a worker has been blocked. Lockout is the practice that holds the machine in that state. Stopped and blocked is the wording of the regulation. Section 25(1)(c) makes the employer responsible for ensuring those measures are carried out. Section 11(a) requires a floor or other surface used by any worker to be kept free of obstructions under clause (i), hazards under clause (ii), and accumulations of refuse, snow or ice under clause (iii). The charge here was clause (iii), the accumulations clause.
Basically, what this means is simple: if a person could be hurt by a machine that moves, that machine gets shut off, blocked so it cannot start, and locked out before anyone reaches into it. A rake does not create distance from a pinch point. It just gives the machine something to grab first. Clearing a jam is maintenance. Maintenance on a live conveyor is not allowed.
Nexcycle was convicted on June 9, 2026 and fined $250,000. Connect Place was fined $15,000. The total is $265,000, plus the 25 percent victim fine surcharge on each. The split matters. The host employer owned the machine and the lockout failure. The staffing agency shared the duty for the conditions its worker was placed into. Both were on the hook.
Three Things This Case Teaches Ontario Employers
- A temporary worker is your worker the moment they clock in. Host employers do not get to treat agency staff as someone else's safety problem. If they run your line, they get your lockout training, your guarding, and your supervision. And agencies do not get to place people and look away. This case fined both because the duty is shared, in law and in fact.
- Jam clearing is where lockout dies. Nobody wants to shut down a line for a thirty-second jam, so people reach in with a tool while it runs. That is exactly the moment the machine wins. Build a hard rule: no hands and no tools into a conveyor unless it is stopped, blocked, and locked. Make it faster to lock out than to argue about it.
- A guard and a locked gate are not paperwork. The conveyor was unguarded and the access gate was unlocked. Those are physical controls that were simply not there. Walk your machinery and check that guards are installed, access panels lock, and the keys live with the people trained to use them.
Go stand at your busiest conveyor and watch what happens the next time it jams. If someone reaches in with the line running, you have found your next fatality rehearsal. Ask your temp workers and your full-timers the same question: what do you do when this line jams. If the honest answer involves a tool and a running belt, fix it before the shift ends.