Worker was drawn into the lathe's rotating workpiece
An Edmonton equipment manufacturer has been ordered to pay $217,000 after a worker was fatally pulled into a manual lathe, following a guilty plea for failing to guard moving machine parts under Alberta's occupational health and safety laws.
Rylex Machine & Supply Ltd. entered the plea on Sept. 14 in the Edmonton Court of Justice, the Government of Alberta announced Sept. 17 (Government of Alberta, Sept. 17, 2026).
Of the total, $216,000 will go to the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) under a creative sentence, with the remaining $1,000 paid as a fine.
Single count after 12 charges
The company pleaded guilty to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code for "failing to provide safeguards if a worker may come into contact with moving parts of machinery or equipment," according to the province. All remaining charges were withdrawn.
The firm had initially faced 12 counts under the OHS Act, CBC News reported (Wallis Snowdon, CBC News, Sept. 17, 2026). The province's earlier machinery-related cases include the La Crete Sawmills fine for a worker's death after a machine jam in 2023.
The incident occurred March 4, 2024, at the company's east Edmonton fabrication shop. Court records cited by CBC News state the worker was drawn into the lathe's rotating workpiece. The worker has not been publicly identified.
Funds directed to trades training
The NAIT payment will be used to purchase a dual-spindle lathe and to "invest in education that promotes a strong workplace culture among future trades professionals," the government said.
The OHS Act allows courts to redirect money that would otherwise be paid as fines to organizations or projects that promote workplace health and safety. Courts applied the same provision in the $350,000 creative sentence for LX Hausys Canada 's Calgary warehouse fatality in June.
The $1,000 fine includes the victim fine surcharge. Such surcharges apply only to fines payable to the Crown, not to creative sentence payments, the province said.
Supervision order and appeal period
The court also placed the company on two years of enhanced regulatory supervision. Under such an order, a convicted party must "complete a number of action items to improve corporate or individual health and safety systems or knowledge," the government said.
The province did not detail the action items. Sentencing documents are available through the Edmonton Court of Justice.
The company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal. Alberta also recently resolved the $330,000 penalty against Mr. Mike's Plumbing over a fatal trench collapse in Calgary.
