BRANTFORD, Ont. – The Ontario Ministry of Labour (MOL) has convicted the owners of a pig farm in the community of Nanticoke for an accident that injured an employee on Dec. 15, 2015. That day, the worker was cleaning a stall with a portable washer spray gun when the worker tripped and dropped the gun, according to an MOL court bulletin. The gun sprayed water into the worker’s face at a pressure of between 2,000 and 2,300 pounds per square inch, causing a permanent injury. The Ontario Court of Justice in Brantford later heard that although Paragon Farms, the partnership that operates the facility, has policies on personal protective equipment and pressure-washer safety, some workers had been shunning safety glasses and Paragon had not been enforcing the policies strictly. On May 24 of this year, the employer pleaded guilty to failing to take every reasonable precaution to protect employees’ health and safety. Justice of the Peace Audrey Greene Summers fined Paragon $55,000, plus the standard victim fine surcharge.