REGINA - The City of Regina has been fined $100,000 in connection to a workplace incident involving bus shelter glass.
In this case, the glass fell on a City of Regina worker who suffered serious injuries.
The city has plead guilty to one court of violating The Saskatchewan Occupational Health and Safety Act. The penalty decision came Wednesday morning in provincial court. The fine includes a 40 per cent victim surcharge assessed in the case.
There are no details on the extent or type of injuries, but the incident took place in Dec. 2020. The employee has since left the employ of the City.
The case was taken to court by the province, through their regulatory role regarding Occupational Health and Safety. The City of Regina will pay the fine out of efficiencies and savings from their budget.
Barry Lacey, Executive Director, Financial Strategy & Sustainability, said it had been over 20 years since there had been any similar charges against the City of Regina. Lacey offered the following remarks on the case in speaking to reporters at City Hall.
“Earlier today, in Provincial Court, the City of Regina was fined $100,000 after pleading guilty regarding one violation of The Saskatchewan Health and Safety regulations.
“The City of Regina’s top priority is the health and safety of its workers and residents. In this case, a City worker suffered significant injuries on the job. This is never acceptable.
“This incident occurred in Dec. 2020. A heavy shipment of bus shelter glass fell on the employee as it was being unloaded in a shipping container, causing serious injuries. The time in the city of Regina did not have the right safety practices and policies in place to protect that worker.”
According to a city news release, employees were allowed to work inside a shipping container to unload heavy bus shelter glass, but there was limited space to do the work safely. Due to the lack of space in the container, the employee could not move out of the way of the glass as it fell on him, causing significant injuries.
“Following the incident, the City launched its own investigation and cooperated fully with the province’s Occupational Health and Safety investigation,” Lacey said. “New policies and procedures have been put in place eliminating health and safety risks regarding the handling of bus shelter glass. Our shelter glass is now handled by workers in a safe, open space, not inside shipping containers. Crates containing bus shelter glass must be fully secured for safety. Training requirements for our employees uncrating glass have been revised, and before handling bus shelter glass, employees must now review and sign off on those safety procedures.
“The City of Regina extends a public apology to this individual injured on the job, accepts responsibility for the unsafe conditions that led to those injuries, and remains fully committed to protecting the health and safety of our workers.”
