Stelco faces five charges over workplace death of Kirk Moore last year

Hamilton steelmaker Stelco faces five provincial health and safety charges related to the on-the-job death of worker Kirk Moore last year at the bayfront coke-making plant.

The United Steelworkers union said the company has since made safety improvements in response to provincial orders - including installing better guardrails along a coal conveyor belt where the father of two was working the day he died.

But the charges, which have yet to be tested in court, are important to both workers and Moore's family to ensure accountability," said Ron Wells, president of USW Local 1005.

Wells expressed hope the court process would move quickly. The next court appearance for the charges is June 20. We're glad the ministry did their due diligence ... but these things tend to get dragged out."

Closure is also important for the family, said Moore's son, Paul. We do want those who are responsible to be held responsible," he said in a phone interview.

It's good that (safety) is improving, but it shouldn't have had to happen at the expense of my dad ...We just want to make sure this kind of stuff does not happen to other families."

The ministry issued orders directing the company to make changes at the plant in the days after the Jan. 15, 2022, death of Moore, who had worked at the steelmaker for more than 40 years. It was the first workplace death at the Hamilton plant in 18 years, according to Wells.

Stelco has complied with the safety improvement orders. But a few months ago, the Ministry of Labour also separately charged the company under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

The charges include alleged failures to ensure various safety measures related to conveyor belts and safety guards, as well as an alleged failure to provide proper instruction to a worker, appoint a competent supervisor and ensure a joint health and safety committee member inspected the coal-handling area.

Very little information has been made public about how the 66-year-old Moore died last year.

Stelco spokesperson Trevor Harris said Tuesday the company cannot comment further on a matter before the courts.

The Ministry of Labour confirmed the company complied with all orders and requirements related to the 2022 workplace death probe, but did not reveal what actions were required.

Ministry field visit reports viewed by The Spectator, however, show the steelmaker was required to add safety barriers or rails in multiple unguarded" areas along the conveyor belt that carries coal up several storeys to a hopper that feeds the bayfront coke-making plant. Coke, the fuel used in smelting of iron ore, is made by baking coal at extreme temperatures in a series of ovens.

Those changes - and others recommended by the union - have all been completed, said union health and safety co-chair Frank Mesich. Better guardrails have also been installed elsewhere in the plant, he said, and new policies have been introduced outlining what type of work can be done solo.

We're going in the right direction, but too late for Kirk," said Mesich, who said he counted Moore as a friend. It's hard to talk about, because we lost a worker on our watch ... We all have to do better."

Moore is one of at least four workers known to have died on the job in Hamilton last year. Welder and dad Quoc Le died at National Steel Car last June, the latest of three fatalities in the railcar plant within 22 months.

A 36-year-old man died after being struck by a forklift in April 2022 at Janco Steel in Stoney Creek.

Also in May, a 64-year-old man died at a Flamborough business after being hit by a transport truck.

Matthew Van Dongen is a transportation and environment reporter at The Spectator. mvandongen@thespec.com