2 companies fined for same incident

Combined total comes in at $135,000

Saskatchewan has fined two out-of-province companies for OHS violations.

Western Energy Services (operating as Horizon Drilling) of Calgary pleaded guilty to contravening subsection 17(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations (being an employer, fail to ensure that all work at a place of employment is sufficiently and competently supervised, resulting in a serious injury to a worker). The company was fined $71,429 plus a surcharge of $28,571, for a total of $100,000.

Great Western Tong Services of Virden, Man. pleaded guilty to contravening subsection 137(1)(a) of the regulations (being an employer, fail to provide an effective safeguard where a worker may contact a dangerous moving part of a machine, resulting in a serious injury to a worker). The company was fined $25,000, plus a $10,000 surcharge.

Both companies were fined following a workplace incident on March 19, 2017, near Stoughton, Sask. A worker was hospitalized after their forearm became entangled in the moving gear of a power tong.

This write-up originally appeared in the April/May 2019 issue of COS.