Worker was pinned by falling lockers
Alberta employer Cold Lake First Nations Casino Corporation has been fined $70,000 and placed under two years of enhanced regulatory supervision following a serious workplace injury.
The employer pleaded guilty on March 19 in the Cold Lake Court of Justice to one count under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code for “failing to eliminate or control a hazard identified by a hazard assessment.” The Crown withdrew three other counts.
Incident details, penalties
The charges arose from a Sept. 22, 2023 incident at Casino Dene in Cold Lake. On that day, “a worker was struck and pinned by falling lockers, sustaining serious injuries,” the province said. The nature of the worker’s injuries was not specified.
The $70,000 penalty includes a victim fine surcharge. In addition, the company will be subject to two years of enhanced regulatory supervision. An enhanced regulatory supervision order “requires a convicted party to complete a number of action items to improve corporate or individual health and safety systems or knowledge,” the Alberta government stated.
Both the company and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or the penalties.
Separately, the Crown withdrew four OHS charges each against Cold Lake First Nations Casino Corporation operating as Casino Dene and against Casino Dene LP.
In its announcement, the Alberta government emphasized that the province’s OHS laws “set basic health and safety rules for workplaces across the province.”
They “provide guidance for employers to help them ensure their workplaces are as healthy and safe as possible while providing rights and protections for workers.”
Charges under OHS laws may be laid “when failing to follow the rules results in a fatality or serious injury.”
