Chatham greenhouse fined $90,000 after incident paralyzes worker
Truly Green. (CTV Windsor)
Windsor, Ont. -
A greenhouse in Chatham has been fined almost 90,000 after an employee became trapped in some machinery and paralyzed.
The incident happened at Truly Green in January 2020.
A GoFundMe page at the time said 21-year-old Natasha Smids was airlifted to London with life-threatening injuries and put into an induced coma for several days.
An agreed statement of facts says Smids, who was a part-time worker, was kneeling and leaning over the rails of a tank to clean the top of it, but a rotating shaft was not locked off.
Her hair and then her clothing became entangled in the shaft, pulling her in.
As a result, she suffered permanent injuries, including paralysis below the waist.
Truly Green pled guilty to charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, for failing to provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker, and jeopardizing health and safety.
The 2500-gallon tanks provide liquid fertilizer to the tomato growing operation. The rotating shaft is connected to paddles inside the tanks that stir the fertilizer.
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