An Ontario tool manufacturer was ordered to pay a fine of C$80,000 (US$60,499) for an incident in which a temporary worker caught two fingers in a metal press and suffered permanent injury, the Ontario Ministry of Labour reported last week.

The temp began working at the M&P Tool Products plant in Brampton, Ont., in December 2015, and the incident happened Feb. 23, 2016. Officials cautioned that younger, newer workers are more likely to be injured.

“New and young workers in Ontario are more likely to be injured during the first few months on the job than other workers, and are three times more likely to be injured during their first month on the job than at any other time,” according to the Ministry of Labour.

Young workers are those under 25 years of age, according to the agency. It cites statistics from Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board that 33 workers between the ages of 15 and 24 died in work-related incidents between 2011 and 2015. New workers are those of any age who are on the job for less than six months or who are assigned a new job

At M&P Tool Products, the injured worker had also not received training on the use of the press; instead, the worker watched a colleague operate the machine for approximately five minutes, according to the agency.

The safety of temporary workers is not a new concern, and incidents have also occurred in the US. In 2012, a temporary worked died during the first day on the job in Jacksonville, Fla., after he was crushed by a palletizer machine.

The US Department of Labor also has a Web page for employers of young workers and cautions that many young workers may also be temporary workers and that client companies and staffing firms share responsibility for temporary workers’ safety and health.

Just last October, the American Staffing Association and the National Safety Council in the US published a case study addressing the safety obligations of staffing companies and host employers. And a column in Staffing Industry Review magazine last year looked at temporary staffing and OSHA reporting.

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