Vancouver-based CRM of Canada Processing will pay a $125,000 fine following the death of a truck driver at its rubber recycling facility in Brantford, Ont. A 25% victim fine surcharge has also been imposed.

The driver, employed by a third-party trucking company, arrived to pick up a container early in the afternoon on March 3, 2021, when the container itself was still being filled.

After backing into position, he entered the building to speak with the assistant compact operator and then left the building. Ten minutes later, the operator found the driver trapped between the container and wall, unresponsive.

It’s unknown how the container detached from the compactor.

“These containers are designed with clamping devices on each side of the container to secure the container to the compactor. This is needed as the container becomes a compaction vessel for the movement and the forces generated by the ram. The compactor involved had a capacity of 40 tonnes force,” a court bulletin notes.

“A limit switch interlocked with the movement of the ram is located at the discharge end of the compactor. When correctly positioned and activated, this switch is in physical contact with the container and signals to the compacting ram that it can continue to pack the container because the container is in the correct and secured position. If the limit switch device is not activated or is not in contact with the container, the ram does not operate.”

The operator is ultimately responsible for securing the clamping devices and ensuring the limit switch is activated and in the right position. But an investigation determined the switch was not appropriately activated or positioned to detect the container’s position.

Compactor operators were also not instructed how to correctly position and activate the limit switch, the court notice added.