February 4, 2008

News Briefs

Alberta company gets massive fine in workers death

Company fined

The Provincial Court of Alberta has ordered Fitzgerald Construction (2001) Inc. to pay a total penalty in the amount of $300,000 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act as a result of the death of one of its workers. The judgment is the result of a Workplace Health and Safety investigation into a Dec. 13, 2004 incident near Wainwright. A worker was killed when he became entangled in an unguarded tail pulley, while removing excess gravel from the ground under a gravel crusher. The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure safeguards for the worker and was ordered to pay a $300,000 penalty. The payment included a $10,000 fine, a $1,500 victim fine surcharge and a payment of $288,500 to the Alberta Worker’s Health Centre, a non-profit society with a mandate to assist workers improve health and safety in the workplace.

Tracks stolen

Kelowna RCMP are investigating the theft of rubber excavator tracks from a lot in the 100 block of Old Vernon Road. Sometime between 4:30 p.m. on Jan. 21 and 8:00 a.m. on Jan. 22, suspect(s) broke into a parked transport trailer parked behind Terra Cut Supply and made off with 8 rubber excavator tracks weighing approximately 300 pounds each. The estimated value of the tracks is about $8000.

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