3 Alberta companies face OHS charges related to 2021 workplace death in Grande Prairie | CBC News
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Three Alberta companies have been charged under Alberta’s occupational health and safety legislation related to a workplace death in Grande Prairie on November 22, 2021.
The charges were laid on Aug. 17 against Nexar Sicim Pipeline Ltd., Xtreme Oilfield Group Inc. and Xtreme Oilfield Technology Ltd.
According to the province’s OHS charges web page, a worker was testing a pipe that was under pressure when a check valve broke. The worker was struck by the valve and died from the injuries.
Nexar Sicim, a prime contractor registered in Calgary, faces four charges under the OHS act, including: Failing to ensure a valve position indicator was easily visible and failing to ensure a test head area had adequate lighting.
Xtreme Oilfield Group and Xtreme Oilfield Technology of St. Paul face seven charges under the OHS act, including: Failing to ensure a worker’s safety, failing to ensure a check valve was isolated from a source of pressure and permitting the introduction of air pressure to piping prior to removal of a check valve.
The employer was also charged under the OHS regulation by not ensuring dangerous work was done by a worker who was competent to do it.
The company has also been charged with violating the OHS code on eight counts, including:
- Failing to conduct a hazard assessment at a work area.
- Failing to identify the pressure hazard.
- Failing to ensure an emergency response plan was current.
- Failing to ensure a hose or piping and its connections operating under pressure were restrained.
- Failing to ensure that no worker performed work on piping that contained a harmful substance under pressure.
Nexar Sicim told CBC News by email that the company is aware of the charges and has a corporate policy to not comment on matters before the court.
The two other companies have not yet responded to a request for comment.
The three companies are among the dozen that have been charged under Alberta’s OHS legislation this year.
In late July, Isolation Equipment Services Inc. — which has offices in Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Edson — was charged with 29 counts under the OHS act and code over a workplace fatality on Jan. 13, 2022.
In that case, an overhead crane operator was positioning a valve bonnet when the equipment released from rigging and pinned the worker, who died.
None of the charges laid this year have been proven in court.
Recent convictions
Two other companies were recently convicted on charges under Alberta’s OHS act and code.
Emcon Services Inc., which has headquarters in B.C. and offices in Alberta and Ontario, was convicted in June over a serious incident in the town of Vegreville on Oct. 6, 2020.
The province’s convictions website says two of the company’s operators were conducting machine service when one worker became lodged in a slow-moving conveyor. The worker was seriously injured.
Emcon Services was convicted of contravening the OHS act by allowing the worker to work near moving parts of a sand-mixing machine.
The company was fined $1,000, ordered to pay $89,000 for equipment for the Vegreville Fire Services and placed under enhanced regulatory supervision for two years.
Other charges were conditionally stayed or dismissed, according to the provincial OHS website.
Spilak Tank Truck Service Ltd., a company based in Slave Lake, was convicted in July over a workplace fatality on Jan. 11, 2022.
In that case, a worker in Slave Lake had been off-loading produced water from a tanker truck when they became entangled in the power take-off. The worker died of their injuries.
A power take-off is a spinning piece of machinery that powers an attachment to a large vehicle.
The company pleaded guilty to contravening the OHS code by failing to ensure equipment was in safe condition.
Spilak Tank Truck Service was fined $275,000 and a remaining charge was withdrawn.
Neither Emcon Services nor Spilak Tank Truck Service has responded to CBC News.
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