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The family of a local tool maker killed on the job said it will “finally have closure” after the province divulged details of the worker’s factory death three years ago.
Darrell Mills, 58, a father of three, was killed while troubleshooting a quality control issue on a 2,750-ton press at Saturn Tool & Die in Oldcastle on March 28, 2022.
“I was searching and searching for answers,” wife Michelle Tremblay-Mills told the Star. “Honestly, it drove me over the edge. It was awful.”
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She now knows what led to her husband’s death. Still, she said those answers don’t make up for the pain the family feels every day from his absence.
The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development Saturn Tool & Die said in a news release Tuesday that Saturn Tool & Die has been fined $180,000, with a 25 per cent surcharge levied on top of that.
On the morning of the workplace incident, Mills had entered the press area at Saturn Tool & Die, activating a light curtain that temporarily stopped the machine in order to make a repair. The press, however, was not secured with ram blocks or electronic lock-out plugs.
Unaware that Mills was inside the press, another employee reset the precautionary light curtain and restarted the machine, resulting in Mills being fatally injured.
Transported by ambulance to Windsor Regional Hospital’s Ouellette campus, Mills was later pronounced dead.
“Since the day he was killed, that company has never reached out to us, not once,” Tremblay-Mills said Wednesday.
“Nobody has sent us a card. Nobody has phoned me and said, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Nobody has come and stopped by to ask how we’re doing.”
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She said the family no longer has access to her husband’s workplace benefits, leaving them without coverage for grief counselling. Their 22-year-old daughter, Danielle, dropped out of her final year of university to cope.
“She is so scared whenever she says goodbye to me,” said Tremblay-Mills.
“She always wants to know where I am and and make sure she says that she loves me before I leave.”
The last memory with her husband is from the day before the fatal accident, when Mills received a job interview at a company based in St. Catharines.
“We were all just being giddy and silly thinking that possibly we could sell this house and move to St. Catharines, and to a better, safer job for him,” she said.
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development said the Windsor company had failed to ensure the moving parts of the press were stopped and secured to prevent injury during maintenance work.
The ministry added that it was “common practice” at the time for workers on the production floor to forego using ram blocks while performing short-term tasks or repairs.
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After pleading guilty in Windsor’s provincial offences court, the employer was fined $180,000 by Justice Susan Whelan. An additional 25 per cent victim fine surcharge was also imposed, with all proceeds going into a provincial fund used to support victims of crime.
The Star sought comment from Saturn Tool & Die Wednesday, but did not hear back.
“Really, $180,000 is a drop in the bucket when you’re talking about these big business conglomerates,” said Antonella Ciampa, Windsor & District Labour Council delegate.
“If a company is not fined heavily, then it’s like a slap,” said Ciampa, who is also chair of the International Day of Mourning committee, an annual ceremony honouring workers killed or injured on the job.
She explained that the penalty levied is “not enough to make businesses prioritize health and safety in the workplace.
“There’s nothing that can replace or justify the loss of a life of someone at work. They’ve recognized that the company was at fault, but what does that even mean when someone’s dad, mom, or sibling is not coming home?”
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The province’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board reported 150 people were killed due to work-related injuries or illnesses in Ontario last year, according to the most recently published numbers as of Nov. 30, 2024.
This year’s International Day of Mourning will be observed in Windsor on April 28, as part of an ongoing effort to prevent future workplace injuries and fatalities.
mmazak@postmedia.com
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