Blog Post #93 – Another Bad Day in Alberta

Excerpt from the OH&S Canada Magazine

A slab of cement on the inside of a concrete mixer fell on a worker, sending the 37-year-old man to a Calgary hospital with serious injuries on September 10, 2010.

At 4:20 pm, the employee of Concrete Depot was working inside the barrel of a concrete truck when the incident occurred, says AEI spokesperson Barrie Harrison. It appears the worker was using a hammer to break up dried cement on the barrel when a slab fell onto his left leg, resulting in crushing injuries.

Calgary’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS), police and fire officials were called to the scene. Fire personnel managed to extricate the worker by cutting away parts of the mixer, says EMS spokesperson Paul Lapointe. Firefighters had to use a large saw and cutter to cut a four-by-four- foot hole in the side of the barrel.

My opinion,

The next few blogs will deal with concrete accidents around the work. There will be one in Galveston, Texas and another recently in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

It seems that the standards are similar in different areas so the safety issues should relate. The only difference I can find is in the enforcement. My only problem is, Alberta seems to have too many issues and not enough deterrence to handle them. Money over safety! It seems that the same theme to the Alberta workplace continues to this day.

I wonder who the Ministry of Health & Safety is in Alberta. It must be a patronage appointment and the person probable does not have any background to warrant the chair. The worker’s health and safety is of paramount concern but, outside the AFL, there are no real watchdogs there to keep the focus where it needs to be.

I wonder if there were any charges laid and, if so, the amount of the fines. In Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, the three leading provinces for health and safety, charges as well as jail time would have been a very real possibility. You know that will never happen in Alberta. That would take too much of an effort. Let’s not tax the effort as well as the integrity of the Alberta health and safety inspectors!

Remember — In Ontario, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”

‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.

Daniel L. Beal
CHSEP – Foundation Level
VP & Senior Trainer
HRSGroup Inc.