A construction company and a concrete supplier have been penalized $218,000 collectively, related to a serious workplace injury incident.

Keller Construction Ltd. and Alberta Concrete Pumping Ltd., as employers, both pleaded guilty on Sept. 22 in the Vegreville Court of Justice to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code for failing to ensure equipment was operated at a safe distance from an overhead power line. The Crown withdrew eight other counts against Keller Construction Ltd. and seven other counts against Alberta Concrete Pumping Ltd.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred on a construction site near Viking on Nov. 27, 2023. A worker was seriously injured by an arc flash from equipment that moved too close to an overhead power line.

The court fined Keller Construction Ltd. $2,000 including the victim fine surcharge. Under a creative sentence, the company was also ordered to pay $130,000 to Concrete Alberta to develop an online training course for concrete pump operators.

Alberta Concrete Pumping Ltd. was fined $86,000 including the victim fine surcharge and placed on two years of enhanced regulatory supervision.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act provides a creative sentence option in which funds that would otherwise be paid as fines are directed to an organization or project to improve or promote workplace health and safety.

Both companies and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalties.

Alberta's OHS laws set basic health and safety rules for workplaces across the province. They provide guidance for employers to help them ensure their workplaces are as healthy and safe as possible while providing rights and protections for workers. Charges under OHS laws may be laid when failing to follow the rules results in a fatality or serious injury.

Quick facts

- Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration does not provide sentence documents. These are available through the Vegreville Court of Justice.

- Victim fine surcharges apply to fines payable to the Crown. They are not applied to payments to other entities under creative sentences.

- An enhanced regulatory supervision order requires a convicted party to complete a number of action items to improve corporate or individual health and safety systems or knowledge.

Related information

Convictions under OHS legislation

Charges under OHS legislation

OHS prosecution outcomes