Blog Post #1621 – Syncrude Fined $390,000 After Excavator Operator Drowns on the Job

Report from the OH&S Canada magazine (Spring 2024)

Syncrude Canada has been fined $390,000 after one of its workers was killed near Fort McKay, Alta, in 2021.

A worker was operating an excavator to build a berm when the bank the excavator was on slumped into the water. The excavator cab became submerged and the worker drowned. Under a creative sentence, the company will pay $390,000 to the David and Joan Lynch School of Engineering Safety and Risk Management, the University of Alberta Geotechnical Centre and the Alberta Municipal Health and Safety Association.

The funds will be used to develop an employer best practice guide and field-ready mobile app for trenching, excavation and adjacent work. These will provide real-time training, work planning and decision support to enhance safe work practices.

The OH&S Act provides a creative sentence option in which funds that would otherwise be paid as fines are directed to an organization or project, to improve or promote workplace health and safety.

Alberta’s OH&S laws set basic health and safety rules for the province’s workplaces. They provide guidance for employers to help them ensure their workplaces are as healthy and safe as possible while providing rights and protections while providing rights and protections for workers. Charges under OH&S laws may be laid when failing to follow the rules results in a workplace fatality or serious injury.

My opinion

I have never been a proponent of the creative fines issued in Alberta.  Yes, money allocated to different associations and university safety courses is a good thing but could be done privately at the provincial level.

Questions are raised, such as;

• What is the time frame for payment?
• Do these associations have any personal interest and direct consultation for these funds? and
• Were they directly involved in the allocation process?

The notoriety of the accident and subsequent fines are supposed to be a deterrent and make companies wary of the public disdain for death in the workplace. This seems more of a personal funding issue than a punishment phase.

HRS Group Inc. has a great team that can help you with all your health and safety needs. Contact Deborah toll free at 1-877-907-7744 or locally at 705-749-1259.

We can also be reached at info@hrsgroup.com

Ensure your workplace is a safe place.

Remember – In Canada, “ALL Accidents are Preventable”

‘Work’ and ‘Play’ safe.

Daniel L. Beal

CHSEP – Advanced Level
CEO & Senior Trainer
HRS Group Inc.