15 employers convicted of OHS violations in 2024

The Government of Alberta maintains a website that lists convictions resulting from violations of provincial Occupational Health and Safety law.

I thought I’d highlight all the convictions from 2024.

Let’s start with Great Northern Plumbing Inc., the first employer to be convicted last year.

Back in August 2020, a worker was seriously injured after being crushed by a load of steel pipe that fell off a rack at their Calgary location, which itself had collapsed under the excessive load that had been placed upon it.

Great Northern eventually pled guilty of failing to ensure that all equipment did not exceed the rated capacity or other limitations as described in manufacturing specifications or specifications certified by a professional engineer.

All other charges were dropped.

They were convicted in January 2024 and fined $102,000, which includes a 20% victim fine surcharge.

As well, a month after the incident, they hired a full-time health and safety coordinator.

Next on the list was Xtreme Oilfield Group Inc., who had a Grande Prairie worker die on the job in November 2021. The worker was testing pipe by removing a check valve from the test head. Unfortunately, the check valve broke during that process, and because that pipe was under pressure, the check valve ended up striking the worker with enough force to kill them.

Not only was Xtreme Oilfield Group charged in this incident, but so were 2 other companies: Nexar Sicim Pipeline Ltd. and Xtreme Oilfield Technology Ltd.

Xtreme Oilfield Group pled guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of workers engaged in the work of the employer. All other charges were withdrawn. As well, all charges against the 2 other companies were withdrawn.

The employer was convicted in January 2024 and fined $350,000, which included the 20% victim fine surcharge.

The third conviction took place in March 2022. The employer convicted in this case was Marathon Underground Constructors Corporation.

At one of the employer’s construction sites in Edmonton, someone had directed a worker to get a piece of plywood, which was needed to cover a piling hole. This worker found some plywood and was making their way back to the piling hole when they, ironically, fell into a hole. They were seriously injured during the fall.

Marathon pled guilty for failing to ensure the health and safety of workers engaged in the work of the employer because they hadn’t verified that the worker couldn’t remove a cover from an open hole in the ground without mechanical assistance.

All other charges were withdrawn.

They were also ordered in March 2024 to pay $144,000 to the Alberta Construction Safety Association, so they could develop a series of micro learning videos and a toolbox talk resource document.

Just 5 days after this conviction, another employer was convicted with an OHS violation.

In July 2021, a worker employed by Brooks Asphalt and Aggregate Ltd. was cleaning out a gravel bin. This worker was a loader operator and was using a running conveyor to clean out the bin. In the process, they asphyxiated to death.

Smith Group Holdings Ltd. was charged along with Brooks Asphalt and Aggregate in connection with this death.

The latter pled guilty for failing to ensure the health and safety of their workers. They had failed to ensure that the worker not clear, clean, or work in proximity to any device, including a conveyor, which was capable of movement

They were convicted in March 2024 and fined $1,000, inclusive of the 20% victim fine surcharge.

As part of their sentence, they were also ordered to pay $50,000 to the Brooks Fire Department to purchase a new set of Jaws of Life and $244,000 to the Alberta Construction Safety Association for the following initiatives:

• 3D incident recreation video
• Series of micro learning videos
• Toolbox talk resource guide
• Safety session hosted by ACSA and open to all industries

All other charges were withdrawn, including all of the charges that had been laid against Smith Group.

Last April, Syncrude Canada Ltd. was convicted in connection to a worker death in June 2021.

This worker was operating an excavator to build a berm at a Fort McKay site owned by the employer. Unfortunately, because the excavator was working on a ramp with an over-steepened slope, the bank slumped into the fresh water, taking the excavator with it. The excavator ended up being submerged, including the cab, and the worker was unable to escape.

Syncrud pled guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of their worker because they permitted the worker to operate in an unsafe environment.

The employer was ordered to pay a combined $390,000 to the David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management, the UAlberta Geotechnical Centre, and the Alberta Municipal Health and Safety Association.

This money was to be directed to the development of an employer best practice guide and field-ready mobile app for trenching, excavation, and adjacent work.

All other charges were dropped.

This was the third time since 2010 that Syncrude has been convicted on OHS violations, one of the others resulting in a worker’s death.

In September 2022, a worker employed at Boucher Bros. Lumber Ltd. in Nampa was removing debris from a planer that was still operating. In the process, they came in contact with the planer blades and ended up seriously injured.

The employer pled guilty to ensuring the health and safety of their worker, which they were convicted of in April 2024.

They were ordered to pay $102,000 in favour of the Alberta Forest Products Association for a mill safety education campaign that would include the development of a series of educational videos aimed at the lumber industry.

All other charges were dropped.

A Calgary worker employed with Westpower Equipment Ltd. was operating an overhead crane in March 2022 to install a pump cover.

The pump cover was lifted using an undersized eyelet bolt. Because of its weight and the way it was rigged, the pump cover was tilted at a 10° angle, which locked the eyelet bolt. However, once the pump cover was aligned over the pump, the worker forced the cover from a tilted position to a vertical/plumb position. This mitigated the locking action on the undersized eyelet bolt, releasing the pump cover, which then fell on the worker, killing them in the process.

OHS officials charged the employer with failing to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of their worker. They pled guilty to the charge, and as a result, the remaining 22 charges were dropped. No other workers witnessed the incident.

They ended up fined $330,000, including a 20% victim fine surcharge.

In a similar incident in Red Deer, a worker employed by Isolation Equipment Services Inc. was operating an overhead crane just a few months earlier, in January 2022. The valve bonnet the operator was positioning also ended up detaching from the rigging. This time it didn’t strike the operator, but one of their fellow workers.

The employer pled guilty for failing to eliminating potential danger to workers by not adequately containing, restraining, or protecting equipment or material that could injure someone if it moved or ended up dislodged. All other charges were dropped.

They were convicted in April 2024 and fined $1000, including the 20% victim fine surcharge.

They were also ordered to pay $359,000 to Energy Safety Canada to develop supervisor and competency programs targeting those who work with new, young, and inexperienced workers.

In October 2021, 4 workers employed in Leduc by Sonic Coating Solutions Inc. were transferring pipe from the employer’s abrasive blasting building to their paint shop for painting. One of the workers, who was standing near the suspended load during transportation ended up being struck by the pipe. The force injured them enough to kill them.

The employer pled guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of their workers. All other charges laid on the employer were dropped.

They were convicted in May 2024 and fined $350,000, inclusive of the $350,000 victim fine surcharge.

Towards the end of 2021, a roofer was working on a roof in Calgary, when they removed some plywood from an opening in the roof, so they could access the work area. However, in the process of removing it, they fell through the opening that it had been covering. They fell 4.5 metres (nearly 15 feet), getting seriously injured in the process.

Jeffrey Ryan Gross, who was the site superintendent, was charge in connection with the incident. He pled guilty to failing to mark a temporary cover in a way that indicated that there was a hazard there.

He was convicted on 24 September 2024 and fined $30,000, including the 20% victim fine surcharge. All other charges were dropped.

About 2 years ago, in February 2023, a windbreak panel was being pushed out of a Burdett manufacturing facility owned by HTK Iron Works Ltd. As it emerged from the facility, the panel fell on a worker, killing them.

HTK Iron Works pled guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of their a worker.

They were fined $360,000, inclusive of the 20% victim fine surcharge.

O’Reilly Oilfield Services Ltd. was the 12th employer convicted of OHS violations in 2024.

In the summer of 2021, several of the workers were discontinuing a well site near Valleyview. They used a portable flare stack to burn off excess gas. However, in the process, the equipment experienced a line disruption, which sent flammable fluid into the line. The caused a fire, and one of the workers near the flare stack was seriously burned.

The employer was charged with failing to take all precautions to protect the health and safety of every worker because they had not adequately controlled the use of a portable flare knock-out and associated equipment. Canadian Natural Resources Limited had also been charged in connection with incident.

All of CNRL’s charges were dropped, and O’Reilly had the remainder of their charges dropped after they pled guilty to the above charge.

O’Reilly was convicted in October 2024 and had to pay a $90,000 fine, which included the 20% victim fine surcharge.

The next conviction involved an employer of another worker who was killed in an overhead crane accident.

The worker, who was employed by Glenmore Fabricators Ltd. was moving a steel beam at a Calgary location when the beam detached from the rigging and fell on the worker, pinning them. The worker died as a result of the injuries they sustained.

The employer pled guilty to the charge of violating section 13(2) of the Occupational Health and Safety Code, which states the following:

If this code requires anything to be done in accordance with manufacturer’s specifications and they are not available or do not exist, an employer must develop and comply with procedures that are certified by a professional engineer as designed to ensure the thing is done in a safe manner, or have the equipment certified as safe to operate by a professional engineer at least every 12 calendar months.

The remainder of their charges were dropped.

Glenmore Fabricators ended up being convicted in October 2024 and fined $1,000, including the 20% victim fine surcharge.

They were also ordered to pay $174,000 in favour of the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (for the purchase of equipment to support the electrical and welding apprenticeship programs) and $25,000 in favour of the Manufacturers’ Health and Safety Association (to enhance the rigging resource centre website).

In March 2022, workers employed by Global Sport Resources Ltd. were performing demolition/reclamation work on a rink in Tofiled. A support beam became loose from the lift gate it was on and struck a worker who was on a step ladder. The worker subsequently fell 1.5 metres (or about 5 feet) and sustained significant injuries. They were airlifted by STARS Air Ambulance for treatment but ultimately succumbed to their injuries.

The employer was charged with failing to ensure that where a worker may be injured if equipment or material was dislodged or moved, it was contained, restrained or protected to eliminate the potential danger. Reward Construction Ltd. was also charged in connection with this inciddent.

Global Sport Resources pled guilty to the charge, and as a result, their remaining charges were withdrawn. All of Reward Construction’s charges were also withdrawns.

The court convicted Global Sport Resources last Halloween and handed down a $25,000 fine, including the 20% victim fine surcharge.

They were also ordered them to pay $100,000 in favour of Alberta Municipal Health & Safety Association to develop and implement a line of fire awareness campaign for arena construction and renovation hazards, as well as a line of fire e-course.

That’s not all. they also had to pay $75,000 to STARS Air Ambulance to help them cover operational costs in Alberta.

And if that wasn’t enough, they were placed on enhanced regulatory supervision for two years.

The final conviction of 2024 took place in November.

Over 2 years earlier, in June 2022, a worker employed by West Coast Scaffolding Inc. was dismantling a section of scaffold at a pulp mill in Peace River. The worker fell during the process, and died from injuries sustained in the fall.

The employer pled guilt for failing to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of a worker.

They had to pay $350,000, as part of their conviction, in favour of Athabasca County and the Caslan Volunteer Fire Department to support training and the purchase of new rescue equipment.

In 2023, there were only 11 employers who were convicted of violations of provincial Occupational Health and Safety law. Of those, 7 were killed, which is significantly less than the 10 killed last year.