A worker was manually guiding material through a punch press when the punch came down on their hand. The machine had no guard that prevented access to the point of operation. The company's own incident report, filed with the Ministry of Labour, identified the missing guard as a cause of the injury.
That's a difficult starting point for a due-diligence defence.
What Happened
On September 16, 2020, a worker at Larkin Storage and Retail Equipment Inc.'s manufacturing facility at 150 Leroux Street in Alexandria, Ontario was operating a punch press that forms metal components for warehouse racking and retail fixtures. The worker was manually guiding a piece of material through the machine when the punch descended and struck their hand.
The punch press was not equipped with a guard that prevented access to the exposed moving punch — the point of operation — during the machine cycle. The company's incident report to the Ministry acknowledged both inadequate guarding and a lack of training as contributing factors.
Larkin Storage pleaded guilty in Cornwall Provincial Offences Court and was fined $65,000 plus a 25% victim fine surcharge under Section 25(1)(c) of the OHSA and Section 24 of Ontario Regulation 851.
What the Law Says
Section 24 of Ontario Regulation 851: "A guard or other device shall be provided for a part of a machine, other than a part that is designed so that it cannot endanger any person, that is or may be a source of danger to a worker."
Basically, what this means is simple: if a machine part can hurt a worker, it must be guarded. The descending punch of a punch press is not a subtle hazard — it is a part designed to apply force with enough energy to cut and form metal. It must be guarded.
Three Things This Case Teaches Ontario Industrial Employers
- Ontario Regulation 851 requires guarding on every machine part that is a source of danger. Punch presses, power presses, and similar machines require point-of-operation guards as a legal minimum. Absence of a guard is a violation, not an oversight.
- Your own incident report can be your strongest evidence against you. When a company writes "inadequate guarding" in its own incident report, the court has direct documentation of the employer's knowledge of the deficiency.
- Machine guarding audits must verify that guards are in place today — not that they were installed at commissioning. Guards get removed, damaged, or disabled. Regular inspection is the only way to know whether the legal requirement is still being met.
If you operate punch presses, power presses, or any machine with exposed moving parts in an Ontario industrial facility, this case belongs on your next guarding audit. The full analysis, including employer and supervisor action checklists, is in the WorkSafe Sounds article linked above.