ATHABASCA – A 2022 workplace fatality in the Peace River area — approximately 500 km north of Edmonton — was resolved with a $350,000 payment to the Caslan Fire Department as part of a creative sentence imposed by the Province of Alberta.
West Coast Scaffolding, based in Morinville, pleaded guilty to a single count of failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, in the St. Albert Court of Justice Nov. 4.
The charge stemmed from a June 11, 2022, incident at the Peace River Pulp Mill in 2022. A 53-year-old man was dismantling scaffolding when he fell and suffered fatal injuries.
Under the OHS Act, a creative sentence can be enforced which direct funds that would have been paid as a fine to a non-profit organization or project to which improves or promotes workplace health and safety.
The fatality investigation summary has not yet been released — summaries are posted to alberta.ca/fatality-investigation-summaries 60 to 90 days after court proceedings conclude — but will provide a more in-depth report on the incident once available.
“Athabasca County is very humbled to receive this funding. Creative sentencing is always a result of something tragic happening,” said Athabasca County Fire Chief Travis Shalapay. “Fortunately, it doesn’t happen very often. Unfortunately, it’s too regular.”
Shalapay said in this case, the individual who passed away had had strong ties to the Caslan area, but said the department was respecting the families privacy and asked others to do the same.
