Released on December 3, 2003
Two Saskatchewan firms have recently been convicted under the provincial Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) Act and Regulations following incidents that caused the death or serious injury of workers.Lawrence Matvenko, a Meadow Lake area contractor, was convicted of failing to ensure the safety of a worker, failing to provide a safe working environment, endangering a worker by moving powered mobile equipment and failing to ensure that a lifting device was designed and operated to safely perform the task for which it was being used. Mr. Matvenko was fined a total of $23,000.
In August 2001, a day labourer employed by Mr. Matvenko was fatally injured when he was crushed between the bucket of a bobcat and an adjacent wall while holding a splashboard to guide cement being poured from the bucket into a form.
Weldon Concrete Products Ltd. of Saskatoon pleaded guilty to failing to provide a written lock-out process and was given a fine and surcharge totalling $9,500. A lock-out process ensures that a machine will not operate while a worker is performing maintenance, repairs or adjustments on it.
The contravention by the employer contributed to the serious injury of a worker, whose leg was injured when a cement mixer he was cleaning was started before he was clear of the machine. The injury required surgery and months of recuperation.
"In 2002, there were over 15,000 time-loss injuries and 16 deaths resulting from workplace injuries or illnesses in Saskatchewan," Occupational Health & Safety Division Executive Director Allan Walker said. "These convictions send the message that we are taking action to make sure our workplaces are a lot safer."
Maximum penalties under The Occupational Health and Safety Act for an offence that causes the death or serious injury of a worker are $300,000 and two years in jail.
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For More Information, Contact:
| Allan Walker Labour Regina Phone: (306)787-4481 |