A worker at GM’s St. Catharines Propulsion plant in Ontario, Canada was seriously injured on Tuesday, January 24th, 2023, The Record reported. The worker, a man in his 50s, received “significant” crushing injuries to both his upper and lower body on Tuesday morning. The worker sustained these injuries while working inside a machine at the plant.
The man was treated on the scene by emergency medical services (EMS) paramedics, then airlifted out for hospital treatment. It was reported later in the week that he was in stable condition at the hospital, still undergoing medical care.
Canada’s Ministry of Labour will be the lead agency conducting an investigation into the accident and why it occurred. GM Canada’s executive director of communications, Jennifer Wright, says the automaker will cooperate fully with the investigation and that safety is the company’s “overriding priority.”
The St. Catharines Powertrain facility has been in operation since 1954 and currently produces engine and transmission components for other GM assembly plants around the globe. The factory says it is committed to reducing greenhouse gases by currently generating 35 percent of its energy needs using renewable landfill gas.
The plant manufactures components such as aluminum cylinder blocks, aluminum heads, and crankshafts for GM’s fifth-generation Small Block V8 engines. These include the 5.3L V8 L84 and 6.2L L87 V8 engines designed for use in pickup trucks and SUVs. Both of these engines are part of the second-generation EcoTec3 engine family.
St. Catharines Propulsion also produces similar components for high-feature GM V6 engines. It manufactures prismatics and gears, while also assembling GF6 six-speed automatic transmissions for front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive applications.
The plant started manufacturing GM eight-speed dual-clutch transmissions in Q2 2022 for the eighth-generation mid-engine Chevrolet Corvette C8. When initially announcing the planned production, GM said it would invest $109 million into St. Catharines Propulsion both to support transmission production for Corvette and for “continued V8 engine production.”
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Comments
It’s on Glendale Avenue not in Glendale… it’s in St Catherines. Glendale is like 500 miles away up near the Quebec border.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour will investigate the accident, it’s a provincial responsibility not a federal one.
Fairly basic details to get right.
Exactly…doesn’t take much to verify the details. Apparently they didn’t see the words “Glendale Avenue Plant.” I have been there with a past job (we were a 3rd party company for a group of employees that work in the plant) and it is definitely in St. Catherines Ontario. It is a pretty cool plant with all of the automation…I hope the injured worker recovers.
Thanks Dave. I was a little confused about that. I always thought the St.Catherines plant was located in St. Catherines, and Glendale was the city where the Coyotes play. GM should have kept the Windsor Transmission plant. It seems ironic that GM completely abandoned Windsor, especially being next door to Detroit. But who in the world ever understands what GM does anyways? I wish for a speedy recovery for the injured victim.
I wonder if all the lock out procedures were followed? Hopefully the employee recovers completely and quickly.
Sorry to learn. Appears to be a failure of lock out / tag out procedures. Refresher safety training in LOTO recommended.
Someone thought amalgamating all the trades was a good idea. One death, one crushed and counting. Not a lockout failure a CAP failure. Glad the fella is doing OK.
We wish him all the best