A wind turbine blade manufacturer has pleaded guilty after a worker fell and was struck by moving machinery in Tillsonburg.
The Ministry of Labour says on July 13, 2015, the worker fell around 6 ft from a wind turbine blade, which was situated on a weigh scale, at the Siemens Wind Power Ltd. plant at Clearview Dr. in Tillsonburg. At that point, a loader operator got out of the loader to help the worker, not realizing the equipment was still in gear. The loader rolled forward and struck the fallen worker, who suffered multiple injuries as a result.
The ministry says Siemens Wind Power failed to provide a work platform from which an employee could work, while attaching or unhooking a clamp from the wind turbine blades.
The company, which has a head office in Oakville, was fined $60,000 in Woodstock court on June 16, 2017. The court also imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.