Glenmore Fabricators Ltd. pleaded guilty to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety Code for failing to develop and comply with procedures certified by a professional engineer. The company was sentenced Oct. 15 in the Calgary Court of Justice. The Crown withdrew 10 other charges under OHS legislation.
The charges stem from an incident at the company’s Calgary facility on Aug. 16, 2021. A worker was moving a steel beam with an overhead crane when the beam released from the rigging and struck the worker, causing fatal injuries.
The company was assessed $200,000 in total penalties, including a $1,000 fine inclusive of the 20 per cent victim fine surcharge. Under a creative sentence, the company was ordered to pay $174,000 to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) to purchase equipment to support the electrical and welding apprenticeship programs. Glenmore Fabricators Ltd. was also ordered to pay $25,000 to the Manufacturers’ Health and Safety Association (MHSA) to enhance the rigging resource centre website. The company was also placed on two years of enhanced regulatory supervision.
The Occupational Health and Safety 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. Creative sentences can also include an enhanced regulatory supervision order, which requires a convicted party to complete a number of action items to improve corporate or individual health and safety systems or knowledge.
Both the company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalties.
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 workplace fatality or serious injury.
Quick facts
- Jobs, Economy and Trade does not provide sentence documents. These are available through the Calgary Court of Justice.
- Victim fine surcharges apply to fines payable to the Crown. The $1,000 fine in this case includes the 20 per cent surcharge. Surcharges are not applied to payments to other entities, in this case SAIT and the MHSA, under creative sentences.
- Fatality investigation summaries are posted to alberta.ca/fatality-investigation-summaries 60 to 90 days after court proceedings conclude.