Zero Gravity Crane & Rigging Inc., as an employer, pleaded guilty on Nov. 9 in the Lethbridge Court of Justice to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code for failing to ensure a worker was protected from falling through a hole in a work surface. All remaining charges were withdrawn.
The sentence stems from an incident that occurred July 17, 2024, on a building roof east of Coaldale. A worker died after falling through an opening in the roof while removing a condenser unit.
The court fined the company $225,000 including the victim fine surcharge. Under a creative sentence, the court also ordered the company to pay $125,000 in total to the Lethbridge School Division, Holy Spirit Catholic School Division and Palliser School Division to provide fall protection and mobile aerial platform safety training for high school students participating in Registered Apprenticeship Program trades.
The company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalty.
Alberta’s OHS laws set basic health and safety rules for workplaces across the province. They provide guidance for employers to help them ensure their workplaces are as healthy and safe as possible while providing rights and protections for workers. Charges under OHS laws may be laid when failing to follow the rules results in a fatality or serious injury.
Quick facts
- Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration does not provide sentence documents. These are available through the Lethbridge Court of Justice.
- The OHS Act provides a creative sentence option in which funds that would otherwise be paid as fines are directed to an organization or project to improve or promote workplace health and safety.
- Victim fine surcharges apply to fines payable to the Crown. They are not applied to payments to other entities under creative sentences.