Ontario's labour ministry has issued six orders against Fiera Foods after a 23-year-old woman was killed while working at the factory in North York. (Fiera Foods website) By Evelyn KwongStaff Reporter
Sara Mojtehedzadeh Work and Wealth reporter
Thu., Sept. 8, 2016
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour has issued six orders for health and safety violations against Fiera Foods after a 23-year-old woman died after was crushed by a machine at the Toronto factory.
Emergency crews were dispatched to the Fiera Foods Company and Bakery factory on Marmora St. on Friday where they found the woman in life-threatening condition after being crushed by machinery, Toronto Paramedics said.
She succumbed to her injuries in hospital on Saturday, Toronto Police confirmed.
Janet Deline, a spokesperson at the Ministry of Labour, told the Star its investigation is ongoing, but that the ministry has issued six orders against Fiera Foods including requirements for assessing the conveyor line where the accident occurred, an order to provide an emergency control on the machine, and four other orders around the location and equipment involved in the woman’s death.
According to Deline, the woman was a part-time employee hired from a temp agency, and had been working at the factory, near Highways 401 and 400, for less than a month.
“We are devastated by this terrible, terrible tragedy. Our thoughts are with the family and our co-workers at this extremely difficult time,” Morgan Murphy, a spokesperson for Fiera Foods wrote in a statement.
Murphy said the company has “worked quickly” to comply with the ministry’s orders, and is planning to initiate a review of their policies, procedures and safety systems.
“We as a community mourn this unacceptable and heartbreaking loss,” Murphy said. “The safety of our employees is our highest priority. We have always, and will continue to, strive for a safe work environment.”
In an email to the Star, a co-worker of the dead woman, who asked that her name not be used, said the woman was injured after her hijab was caught in a conveyor belt. She said she had only worked at the factory for a couple shifts.
The Star has reported extensively on the hardships faced by temp agency workers, as well as the rapid growth of the industry in Ontario.
In February 2015, Marmora Freezing Corp., a contractor of Fiera Foods, was fined $150,000 by the Ministry of Labour after a male security guard, who was also hired through a temp agency, according to documents obtained by the Star, was killed during a nightshift at the same factory on Marmora St. in December 2011.
His body was found underneath a tractor-trailer wheel. He was initially struck by an employee leaving the facility by car, and then unknowingly run over by another co-worker driving a tractor-trailer, according to the ministry. The company pleaded guilty to failing as an employer to take every precaution reasonable for the protection of a worker.
Meanwhile, the Ontario Federation of Labour has written to Toronto Police asking them to investigate the latest death. In a statement, the labour group said “too many employers treat temp agency workers as a disposable commodity, relegating to them the most precarious and dangerous work.”
“This government needs to do more to prevent the injuries and deaths of temp agency workers,” it added. “The legislation is woefully inadequate in protecting these vulnerable workers and holding employers responsible.”