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A corporation is fined $115,000 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act after an employee suffocated due to an unsafe work procedure.
The defendant, Reliable Wood Shavings Inc., was convicted of four offences under section 25 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act arising from a workplace accident on July 14, 2009, in which an employee died.
Counts 1, 3, and 4 were stayed pursuant to the Kienapple principle, with conviction registered on count 2 only.
The employee, Glen Gallinger, suffocated after falling into a truck box while attempting to dislodge stuck wood shavings using an unsafe procedure prescribed by the defendant.
The court found the defendant guilty of failing to ensure safe work procedures and failing to take reasonable precautions for worker protection.
At sentencing, the Crown sought $140,000 while the defendant sought $40,000-$70,000.
The court imposed a fine of $115,000 with two years to pay, emphasizing general deterrence and the seriousness of workplace fatalities.
The defendant employer was convicted of occupational health and safety offences after a worker was asphyxiated while manually dislodging sawdust from a silo.
The defendant, Reliable Wood Shavings Inc., was charged with four offences under section 25 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act arising from the death of Glen Gallinger, an employee who was asphyxiated while attempting to dislodge sawdust from a silo at a customer's facility.
The court found that the defendant failed to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances to protect its worker.
The defendant's prescribed procedure was unsafe and impractical, the written instructions were defective, and the defendant failed to address the inherently dangerous conditions at the worksite despite having knowledge of the hazards.
The court found the defendant guilty on counts 2, 3, and 4, with count 1 stayed pursuant to the Kienapple principle.
