Furniture maker fined $50,000 after worker critically injured at Cornwall plant

What happened

• A worker was critically injured on Feb. 20, 2025, while removing an MDF board from a Sizing and Edge Banding Machine at 3305 Loyalist Street, Cornwall. A section of protective fencing had been removed and the nip point between top and bottom cone rotators was not guarded.

Court result and penalty

• Ridgewood Industries Ltd. pleaded guilty in Provincial Offences Court in Cornwall on June 16, 2026.
• The company was fined $50,000 by Justice of the Peace Stephen Dibblee and received a 25% victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge goes to a provincial fund to assist victims of crime.

Why it matters

• The conviction cites a failure to meet guarding requirements under section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Ontario Regulation 851 (Industrial Establishments).
• The case highlights the risk when machine guards or protective fencing are removed while equipment is operational.

Other details from the release

• The machine had an interlocking gate and lockout system, but a section of fencing was removed, allowing access while the machine was running.
• Crown counsel in the case were Alicia Gordon-Fagan and law student Alys Shee.