Global Sports Resources Ltd. has been fined $200,000 after pleading guilty to a safety violation under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code related to a worker’s death in 2022.
The company admitted to failing to take all reasonable steps to constrain, retain or protect equipment or material that could be dislodged or moved and injure a worker, according to sentencing on Oct. 31 in the Sherwood Park Court of Justice.
The charges stem from a March 31, 2022, incident at an arena in Tofield, where a worker was performing demolition and reclamation work. A support beam broke free and struck the worker, causing a fatal fall from a ladder.
As part of the sentence, Global Sports Resources Ltd. was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, inclusive of a 20 per cent victim fine surcharge. Under a creative sentencing provision of the OHS Act, the company must also pay $75,000 to STARS Air Ambulance for operational costs and $100,000 to the Alberta Municipal Health and Safety Association to develop and implement a line-of-fire awareness campaign and e-course.
Additionally, the company will undergo two years of enhanced regulatory supervision.
The Crown withdrew five other charges against Global Sports Resources Ltd. under OHS legislation. Seven charges against Reward Construction Ltd. related to the same incident were also withdrawn.
Both the company and the Crown have 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalties.
Alberta’s OHS laws set fundamental health and safety standards for workplaces across the province. Charges under OHS legislation may be laid when non-compliance results in a workplace fatality or serious injury.