Worker dies after ‘industrial rescue’ at Janco Steel Ltd.

Hamilton police say a worker has died after an incident at a Stoney Creek steel company Tuesday morning.

Const. Krista-Lee Ernst told The Spectator a 36-year-old man had died of his injuries, which had previously been described as life-threatening."

Earlier in the day, Hamilton Paramedic Service Supt. Dave Thompson told The Spec a man, believed to be in his 30s, was taken to hospital from Janco Steel Ltd. without vital signs.

Paramedics were providing resuscitation efforts on route, he noted.

Emergency services were called to the Arvin Avenue facility for an industrial rescue" just before 10:40 a.m., according to a tweet by the Hamilton Fire Department. The call was soon upgraded to note that the patient's vital signs were absent.

In an email to The Spectator, Hamilton Fire Department assistant chief Shawn De Jager said by the time crews arrived at the steel facility, they were met by paramedics with the patient already in their care."

Neither Ernst nor Thompson could provide any further comment on the call, with both noting that the Ministry of Labour had been called in to investigate.

At the scene late Tuesday morning, an ambulance and police officer could be seen standing near several large steel coils located outside the facility.

The Spectator has reached out to Janco Steel Ltd. for comment as well as the Ministry of Labour for more information.

Janco fined in 2016 death

The Stoney Creek steel processing plant was fined $150,000 for the death of one of its workers who was fatally injured in 2016.

Janco Steel Ltd. pleaded guilty in May 2018 to failing to ensure that regulated measures and procedures under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act were followed.

The Arvin Avenue plant processes steel products, including slit-to-width large coils.

A worker was killed on July 21, 2016, after coils were not properly secured by a hold-down arm, causing one of the cut coils to fall and crush him.

News reports at the time said the man had been pinned by a steel coil that fell from its rigging while it was being hoisted. The worker, who was not identified, suffered a head injury and died at the scene, according to the Ministry of Labour.

Health and Safety Act regulations prescribes that materials, such as those produced at Janco, be lifted, carried or moved so as not to endanger the safety of any worker.

More to come.

Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com