A Mississauga company has received a large fine after a 60-year-old man was crushed and killed at The Gap warehouse in Brampton.

Dematic Limited, a company that provides supply chain automation, material handling, warehouse management and logistics, pleaded guilty in front of Justice of the Peace Richard Quon in Brampton Thursday (March 8) and was fined $175,000.

Court heard a Dematic worker became pinned between the guardrail of a work platform and a steel structure during construction at the distribution centre on McLaughlin Road south of Williams Parkway back on Aug. 9, 2016, and died from the injuries.

Dematic Limited was contracted to design and install a conveyor system at the warehouse, court heard. The conveyor system was part of an automated material handling system for the warehouse.

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During installation of the conveyor, workers were required to install decking on previously constructed structural steel frames. The work crew moved the decking by forklift, and used a mobile work platform to access the steel frame to install the decking, court heard.

On the day of the tragic incident, two workers were installing decking on the east end of one of the structural steel frames. Both were working from the mobile work platform, with one operating the controls.

The mobile work platform was operated from controls that were accessed while on the platform.

The worker operating the controls of the mobile work platform did not have the co-worker within sight; both were on the platform while it was being moved, court heard.

While moving the platform, the operator “heard a noise” and stopped the platform, then saw “he (the co-worker) became pinned between the guardrail of the work platform and the steel structure,” Quon said in his ruling.

Emergency services were called but the worker was pronounced dead at the scene.