Essex company fined $50,000 after worker critically injured
An Essex steel fabrication company has been fined $50,000 after a worker was critically injured when a conveyor collapsed at its Leamington facility in March 2025. Essex Weld Solutions pleaded guilty in Windsor Provincial Offences Court, the province says.
Topics: Public safety
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An Essex-based steel fabrication company has been fined $50,000 after a worker was critically injured when a conveyor collapsed at the company's Leamington facility, according to a court bulletin the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development released on Nov. 10, 2026.
Essex Weld Solutions Ltd., of 340 Allen Avenue in Essex, pleaded guilty in Windsor Provincial Offences Court. Justice of the Peace Susan Whelan imposed the $50,000 fine. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, as the Provincial Offences Act requires. The company was convicted on July 20, 2026, and sentenced on Sept. 25, 2026.
What happened
The ministry says that on March 17, 2025, a supervisor at the company's facility at 50 Victoria Avenue North in Leamington told a worker to adjust a mobile roller conveyor. The conveyor was made of four sections fastened together, each weighing about 430 pounds, and was routinely reconfigured for different orders.
Working alone, the worker began loosening bolts on brackets joining the sections. When the worker loosened bolts on a middle section, the conveyor collapsed and critically injured the worker.
A ministry investigation found the conveyor had not been securely blocked to prevent it from tipping while it was being maintained, contrary to Section 46 of Ontario Regulation 851 (Industrial Establishments). The ministry did not name the worker.
Sources: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development court bulletin, Nov. 10, 2026 (
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