An Alberta irrigation district has been ordered to pay $365,000 in penalties after pleading guilty to a workplace safety violation related to a diver’s death in 2022.
Eastern Irrigation District was sentenced Feb. 19 in the Brooks Court of Justice after admitting it failed to ensure an intake mechanism was locked out before a dive began, a requirement under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code. Nine other charges under OHS legislation were withdrawn.
The case stems from an Oct. 19, 2022, incident at the Lake Newell and Rolling Hills Reservoirs, south of Brooks, where a diver was inspecting and working on the reservoirs’ gates. The worker suffered fatal injuries during the dive.
As part of a creative sentence, the irrigation district must pay $300,000 to the Central Alberta Rescue Diving Society for equipment and training, and $65,000 to the Alberta Underwater Council to support a safety campaign for divers and employers. The OHS Act allows for creative sentencing, directing funds toward workplace safety improvements instead of traditional fines.
