Fiera Foods Says Health and Safety Has Always Been a Top Priority

Company is committed to continuous improvements

TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2017 /CNW/ - Fiera Foods has always placed the health and safety of its workers as a key priority, but it plans to do even better. As part of its commitment to continuous improvement, Fiera Foods undertook a process of reviewing its health and safety policies over a year ago. It is continuing this process by 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," says 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."  

‎On September 2, 2016, Amina Diaby died when her hijab became entangled under a guard covering the chain drive of a conveyor.  A Ministry of Labour investigation determined that Fiera Foods Company had failed to ensure that a worker near a source of entanglement secured all loose clothing, as required by section 83(2) of the Industrial Regulation. This was in violation of section 25 (1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

In August, Fiera Foods Company negotiated a settlement with the Crown, which included a guilty plea and a payment amount of $300,000, plus the 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Fiera Foods takes the safety, health and wellbeing of our people very seriously. We adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices and are subject to a number of third-party audits, often unannounced, which validate our commitment to food safety, such as the British Retail Consortium (AA rating), Homeland Security, and the American Institute of Baking International, among many others. In April 2016, one of our clients audited us for "Social Compliance" where we received an overall score of 98.8%.

Fiera Foods is committed to employing people from emerging communities. We are proud of our diverse workforce. Our business could not exist without their contributions. The recent tragedy reinforced the importance of continuous improvements to health and safety within our facility. We recognize that safety is an evolving issue and we continue to work diligently to make sure accidents like this do not happen again.

About Fiera Foods Company

Fiera Foods was started in 1987.  From its humble beginnings 30 years ago, this privately owned food company has been providing North America with quality bakery goods.  For more information, visit www.fierafoods.com.

SOURCE Fiera Foods Company

David Gelbloom, 416-746-1010, [email protected]