January 10, 2007

SAFETY

Penalty in death of worker helps community

Suzanne Zwarun

Correspondent

An Alberta philanthropist will pay a different kind of penalty as reparation for the death of a 14-year-old worker.

A Wetaskiwin judge has given assent to a proposal by Stan Reynolds, 83, to donate 13 hectares of prime real estate off the end of the Wetaskiwin airport to the community so the airport can eventually extend its runway.

The donation of the land, which Reynolds has owned for decades, is in lieu of a $495,000 penalty levied against Reynolds by Alberta Occupational Health and Welfare for the death of employee Erik Dyment. Reynolds must also pay a $5,000 fine. Under Alberta Occupational Health and Safety guidelines $500,000 is the largest penalty that can be levied for failing to ensure the safety of a worker.

Dyment was killed in July, 2005 in the workshop of Reynolds’ personal museum in Wetaskiwin, 90 km. south of Edmonton. He became trapped under the box of an old army truck he was sandblasting. An investigation by Alberta Health and Safety determined the upended truck box hadn’t been secured to prevent it from falling over.

Karen Dyment, the boy’s mother, told the court in a victim impact statement that her son would have approved the land donation. “I’m glad they came up with this way to help the community.”

Reynolds, in hospital at the time the judge gave assent to the land donation, operates his private museum near the Reynolds Alberta Museum, a provincially -owned institution focusing on $20 million worth of artifacts that Reynolds donated to the place.

According to a recent report by the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, nearly five Canadians on average died every single working day in 2005 because of a work-related accident or illness. In 2005, there were 1,097 workplace-related deaths, up from 758 in 1993.

Workers’ Compensation Board officials say there has been a move in all provinces to toughen enforcement of workplace safety legislation. Judges are reported to be imposing higher fines—upwards of $100,000 when $30,000 to $40,000 was the norm five years ago.

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