The Ontario Ministry of Labour on Thursday fined Toronto commercial bakery Fiera Foods Company C$300,000 for an incident where a temporary worker was killed. The company said it will now review the practices of the temporary employment agencies it engages. 

Amina Diaby, a worker employed by a temporary help agency, was working at the Fiera Foods plant on Sept. 2, 2016. According to the Ministry of Labour, the worker wore a hijab which was loose at the ends. The hijab became entangled under a guard covering the chain drive of a conveyor, causing fatal injuries to the worker. An emergency stop button was not accessible from the location of the entanglement.

Fiera Foods Company pleaded guilty to violating a section of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing to ensure that a worker near a source of entanglement secured all loose clothing. Justice of the Peace Rhonda Roffey handed down the sentence in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto. The court also imposed a 25% victim fine surcharge, which is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Fiera Foods on Friday announced it undertook a process of reviewing its health and safety policies over a year ago, and is now engaging independent experts to conduct two separate audits. The first is evaluating its human resource practices and Health and Safety practices; the second is reviewing the practices of the temporary employment agencies Fiera Foods engages. 

“We have always tried to provide the best working environment for our workers but we are committed to doing better for them and we absolutely will,” said David Gelbloom, general counsel, Fiera Foods. “The death of Amina Diaby was a tragedy that should not have happened. These audits will help prevent such a tragedy from happening again.”