Digest: R v Shercom Industries Inc., 2018 SKPC 3

• Date: January 18, 2018

Reported as: 2018 SKPC 3

Docket Number: PC17121 , 90215168

Court: Provincial Court

Date: 2018-01-18

Judges:

• Gray

Subjects:

• Public Welfare Offences � Occupational Health and Safety � Death of a Worker � Sentencing

Digest: The defendant employer pled guilty to one count of violating s. 12(a) of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996 that resulted in the 2015 death of a worker, contrary to ss. 3-78(g) and 3-79 of The Saskatchewan Employment Act. Since 1993 the defendant operated a tire recycling facility in Saskatoon that had been approved until 2021 as an industrial waste works facility pursuant to The Environmental Management and Protection Act, 2010. At the time of the accident, the defendant employed 76 people. At the time of the hearing, it had 46 employees and had operated at a loss in 2015 and 2016 but it did not provide any other financial information. On the night of the incident, the employee was working on a processing line where his job was to ensure that the system did not get blocked with improperly shredded tires. The employee�s arm was caught between a tail pulley and a conveyor belt behind a large safety guard. Employees had been instructed not to reach into the equipment after an employee had been slightly injured in the same fashion only 10 days earlier. The employees were instructed to address lock-out procedures. The defendant had been issued with notices of contravention prior to this accident and they were generally remedied within 24 hours. However, the former plant manager testified that the owner wanted safety features to be efficient and that safety was not a priority. Neither he nor any member of the management team had any Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) training. After the employee�s death the defendant had engaged consultants and sent staff to safety training seminars. Weekly OH&S meetings were now held and a safety consultant certified that the defendant had met a minimum standard for a safety program. The shredder was replaced at a cost of $550,000 and additional emergency stops were installed at work stations at a cost of $2,500. Another fail-safe metal detector system costing $39,000 had been installed and lighting in the work area had been upgraded. The defendant had hired an engineer with experience in safety and ad operations specific to tire recycling and a full-time safety officer. It made donations of $25,000 to the Saskatchewan Safety Council�s early...