Employer fined $42,000 after two men die in workplace accident

A Saskatchewan-based sewer company has been ordered to pay a $42,000 penalty after two men lost their lives in a workplace accident.

J & D Sewer Services Ltd., located in Swift Current, was fined this week over the incident that occurred on September 8, 2014. Two workers from Calgary died when they were exposed to hydrogen sulphide in a sewer line close to Fox Valley, a village approximately 430 miles west of Regina.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said at the time that the men fell 3.5 metres after the sewer line partially collapsed.

In July, J & D Sewer Services Ltd. pleaded guilty to counts under occupational health and safety legislation. They were:

• Contravening clause 19(1)(a) of the regulations (being an employer, failure to ensure that a worker is trained in all matters that are necessary to protect the health and safety of the worker when the worker begins work at a place of employment, resulting in the death of two workers).
• Contravening clause 302(2)(a) of the regulations (being an employer, failure to take all practicable steps to prevent exposure of a worker, to an extent that is likely harmful to a worker, to a chemical substance or biological substance that may be hazardous, resulting in the death of two workers).

The company was fined $15,000 along with a $6,000 surcharge for each of the deceased workers.