A Calgary-based construction company and its supervisor have been fined a combined $546,000 following convictions under Alberta’s occupational health and safety (OHS) legislation in connection with a workplace fatality.
Volker Stevin Contracting Ltd. and supervisor Michael O’Neill were found guilty on April 11, 2024, in the Calgary Court of Justice. The sentences were handed down on June 20, 2024, following a trial held in multiple phases throughout 2023 and 2024.
Volker Stevin Contracting Ltd. was fined $480,000, including a 20 per cent victim fine surcharge, after being convicted under Alberta’s OHS Act and OHS Code. The charges included failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker and permitting a worker to remain within range of moving equipment.
Michael O’Neill, the supervisor, was fined $66,000, also including the 20 per cent victim fine surcharge. He was found guilty under the OHS Act for failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker and under the OHS Code for exposing a worker to danger from moving equipment.
The case revolves around an incident on Oct. 2, 2019, when a worker near a storm drain on a residential street in Airdrie was fatally struck by a vehicle driven by O’Neill.
Both the company and the supervisor have 30 days to appeal the sentences.