SaskPower has been ordered to pay $840,000 in penalties following a 2020 workplace accident that left two workers dead. The sentencing took place in Weyburn Provincial Court on October 18 after the Crown corporation was found guilty of multiple violations of Saskatchewan’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations.
The charges relate to an October 8, 2020, incident where two SaskPower workers fell from an elevated bucket truck in Weyburn, sustaining fatal injuries. Saskatchewan Power Corporation, or SaskPower, was found to have breached three key safety regulations under the 1996 law, according to the provincial court.
The company faced the heaviest fines for failing to “provide and maintain plant, systems of work and working environments” that safeguard employees’ health and safety “as far as is reasonably practicable,” a violation that accounted for a $300,000 fine and a $120,000 surcharge.
The corporation was additionally fined $150,000, with a $60,000 surcharge, for failing to provide adequate information, instruction, training, and supervision to protect workers. A third charge, also penalized at $150,000 with a $60,000 surcharge, was tied to SaskPower’s failure to ensure workers using an elevated work platform were equipped with fall protection.
