Saskatchewan orders two companies to pay over $10K in OHS fines

Two companies and a supervisor from the Prairies have pleaded guilty for separate OHS-related offences and were ordered to pay a combined total of more than $10K.
A Saskatoon sandblasting business has pleaded guilty in an explosion that seriously burned a worker.

Jackson Sandblasting and Painting will have to pay a fine of just over $8,500 for failing to provide a safe work environment.

The business was charged after the explosion that happened nearly three years ago while a truck was being spray-painted.

Five other charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act were stayed.

Meanwhile, a Manitoba contractor has been fined $2,000 for unsafe working conditions at a site in Saskatchewan.

Dave Nicholson of Dave's Do It Right Construction pleaded guilty to three counts under Saskatchewan's Occupational Health and Safety Act.

They related to failure to utilize a fall protection system and protective headwear and failure to sufficiently and competently supervise work.

An inspector saw workers on the rafters of a new building without fall protection or approved headwear at a construction site near the airport in Carlyle in July 2010.

Two other charges against Nicholson were stayed.

A supervisor for Dave's Do It Right Construction was also fined $840 for failing to ensure workers complied with the act, and seven workers were each fined $580 for failing to use fall protection.