Canadian Occupational Safety

8 Canadian Occupational Safety | www.cos-mag.com Irving fined nearly $90K for death of worker at sawmill JD Irving Limited has been sentenced to pay $89,500 after a worker was fatally struck by a loader at its sawmill near Truro, N.S. The penalty is the fourth largest for an occu- pational health and safety violation in Nova Scotia in the last 20 years. Truro provincial court Judge Alain Bégin fined the company $34,500 (inclusive of the victim fine surcharge) and it was ordered to pay $55,000 to the Nova Scotia Commu- nity College Foundation to establish an annual bursary in memory of Chad Smith, the worker who was killed. The bursary is to be awarded to students in the occupational health and safety program. On June 27, 2016, Smith was fatally injured at the Irving sawmill in Valley, N.S., after being struck by a Komatsu A320 rear-end loader. Smith was struck while crossing a shared vehicle/pedestrian bridge located at the sawmill. He died two months before his wedding date at the age of 28. Smith was running late on the day of the incident and was rushing to cross the bridge and get to his position at the boiler-house. Meanwhile, an Irving employee was crossing the bridge in the loader. His view included a number of blind spots and was limited by the design of the loader and the load he was carrying. The driver did not see Smith at any time as he approached and crossed the bridge. The driver was the first to find Smith when he was travelling back across the bridge. The driver and other employees attempted first aid and called 911. The fire department, Emergency Health Servi- ces (EHS) and RCMP came to the site, but Smith succumbed to his injuries at the scene. According to the government's special OHS prosecutor, Alex Keaveny, the driver continues to suffer terribly from the trauma of the incident. "Judge Bégin stated that he hoped JD Irving would apologize to (the driver) for the needless anguish they caused him by letting him believe for years that he was responsible for this tragedy... (He) made it 100 per cent clear that JD Irving was solely respon- sible for this tragedy, and that Smith and (the driver) were only following the flawed safety system JD Irving had set up at the mill." At the time of the incident, the bridge did not have any barriers to separate pedestrian and lift trucks at congested areas. Irving had a Site Walk Zone Policy for the sawmill that set out various routes for pedestrians, but some of these routes did not avoid lift truck traffic. There were no stop signs or other formal requirements mandating that lift trucks stop at all intersections. There were no marked crosswalks and the Site Walk Zone Policy included only general advice, although there was a requirement to make radio contact with operators when in certain areas of the yard (but not the bridge). Irving undertook a review of the Site Walk Zone Policy following the incident. As a result, the company has spent in excess of $100,000 on site improvements, implementing a new policy and additional safety training. Improvements include: • construction of a new pedestrian- only bridge • installation of stop signs at the bridge • installation of new barriers to separate vehicle traffic and ped- estrians along the Site Walk Zone • a clearly marked Site Walk Zone • retention of a safety consultant to provide safety leadership training and coaching to supervisors. FINES & PENALTIES B.C.'s Interior Health Authority fined $628K for lack of violence prevention program The Interior Health Authority, based in Princ- eton, B.C., has been fined $628,034 for an incident that occurred in 2016 at its mental health drop-in centre. A worker was with a client at the Kn ala Inclusion House Mental Health Program when a member of the public tried to enter the centre. After being denied entry, this person assaulted both the worker and the client. WorkSafeBC's investigation determined that the employer had not conducted a violence prevention risk assessment nor had it developed specific violence prevention procedures that took into account the risks associated with the particular work site. Effective July 6, Interior Health has closed the Kn ala centre and is looking for a new location. "Safety is a key priority for us at Interior Health," said Danielle Cameron, mental health and substance use health services administrator for Interior Health (IH) central. "IH has reviewed the findings of the WorkSafeBC investigation into the 2016 incident and determined that the Kenley Avenue (location) is not suitable from a safety perspective. For that reason, we have asked the service provider to cease operations at their current building and find a new location within 90 days." WorkSafeBC said the employer is being penalized for failing to ensure the health and safety of its workers and for failing to conduct an assessment of violence risks to its workers. These were both repeated and high-risk violations. Young worker death results in $100K fine Mintech Marketing has been fined $100,000, plus a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, for the death of a young worker at the company's facility in Campbellford, Ont. The company col- lects and resells post-production plastic and other waste products. On Jan. 16, 2017, Bailey McDonald, 18, was using a propane torch to melt and clear frozen ground around the landing gear legs of a transport trailer, which were stuck in the ground. After commencing the work, McDonald was left alone to complete the task. At some point during the work, McDonald moved from the driver side to the passenger side leg of the land- ing gear. This placed him in a relatively narrow area between the trailer being worked on and another full trailer. The trailer McDonald was working on fell forward and toward the passenger side where he was located. The trailer fell when the legs, which had been sup- ported by the ice, collapsed upon being released from their hold. The worker was fatally injured as a result of being pinned between the two trailers. The trailer in question was not placed or stored so that it would not tip, col- lapse or fall, resulting in the incident, said the Ontario Ministry of Labour. This is an offence under section 45(b)(i) of the Industrial Establishments Regulation (Regulation 851) and section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Two charges had also been laid under the act against Dale McLellan and Wendy Coulombe as directors of Mintech, but they were withdrawn. New and young workers in Ontario are more likely to be injured during the first few months on the job than other workers, and they are three times more likely to be injured during their first month on the job than at any other time.

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