Rylex Machine & Supply Ltd., as an employer, pleaded guilty on Sept. 14 in the Edmonton Court of Justice to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code for failing to provide safeguards if a worker may come into contact with moving parts of machinery or equipment. All remaining charges were withdrawn.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred March 4, 2024, at the company’s Edmonton fabrication shop. A worker died after becoming entangled in a manual lathe’s moving parts.
The court fined the company $1,000 including the victim fine surcharge. Under a creative sentence, the court also ordered the company to pay $216,000 to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. The funds will be used to purchase a dual-spindle lathe and invest in education that promotes a strong workplace culture among future trades professionals. The company was also placed on two years of enhanced regulatory supervision.
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 Edmonton 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.
- An enhanced regulatory supervision order requires a convicted party to complete a number of action items to improve corporate or individual health and safety systems or knowledge.