Canadian crate maker fined $25,000 for worker injury
atwood-crate.jpg
BRITISH COLUMBIA - Adwood Manufacturing, a Canadian manufacturer of wooden shelving, crates, and storage units, has been fined $25,000 after an employee's hand was injured by spinning saw blades.
 
Investigating the injury, WorkSafe found that a worker shut down the shop's ripsaw and removed the dust hood to clean the machine, but the blades had not yet stopped spinning. The blades came into contact with the worker's hand, causing injury.
 
WorkSafeBC inspected the worksite and determined the machine had not been locked out when the incident occurred, no written lockout procedures were in place, and that staff were not properly trained on ripsaw safety procedures. 
 
"These were high-risk violations," the report says.
 
Adwood Manufacturing has appealed the fine.
 
Atwood Manufacturing makes wooden crates, tables, shelving, and storage units from sustainably managed forests it says on its website.
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Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].