Excel Management Limited Partnership and Benchmark Cribbing Inc., both pleaded guilty on June 2 in the Calgary Court of Justice to one count each under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act.

Excel Management Limited Partnership, as prime contractor, pleaded guilty to one count for failing to ensure workers were adequately trained to perform work in a healthy and safe manner. Three other counts against Excel Management Limited Partnership, Excel G.P. Ltd., and Excel Homes Limited Partnership were withdrawn.

Benchmark Cribbing Inc., as an employer, pleaded guilty to one count for failure to ensure that racks used to store materials or equipment were placed on firm foundations that could support the load respectively. The Crown withdrew three other counts.

The Crown issued a stay of proceedings against a third defendant.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred at a new residential development in Calgary on December 16, 2023. Workers were installing forms for a foundation when a cage holding panels fell, striking and pinning one worker and causing serious injuries.

Both companies were ordered to pay $125,000, inclusive of the 20 per cent victim fine surcharge, with the fine to Excel G.P Ltd., payable immediately and the fine to Benchmark Cribbing payable by December 23, 2026.

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 Calgary 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.