Company to pay $200K penalty in death of worker at Alberta arena

A recreation facility equipment supplier will pay $200,000 in workplace safety penalties after one of its workers died at a hockey arena in a small town east of Edmonton.

Global Sports Resources Ltd. pleaded guilty to one count under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Code and was sentenced on Oct. 31 in the Sherwood Park Court of Justice.

The worker died March 21, 2022, at the community rink in Tofield, a town of about2,000 people 68 kilometres east of Edmonton.

The man was conducting demolition and reclamation work when a support beam broke free and struck him. Hefell 1.5 metres from a ladder and was fatally injured.

Global Sports Resources was convicted of failing to take all reasonable steps to secure equipment or material that could be dislodged and injure a worker.

According to the charges, the beam that struck the workerhad been placed on a liftgate, a piece of hydraulic equipment that allows heavy cargo to be lowered to the ground from the back of a truck.

Creative sentence

Global Sports Resources Ltd. was ordered to pay the $200,000 in total penaltiesas part of a creative sentence.

Creative sentences laid in OHS prosecutions direct penalties that would otherwise be paid as fines toward organizations or projects that promote workplace safety.

Under the creative sentence, the company will pay $75,000 to STARS Air Ambulance for operational costs.

The company was also ordered to pay $100,000 to the Alberta Municipal Health and Safety Association. Theassociation will use the money to help develop and implement a line-of-fire awareness campaign and safety training course.

Government officials said the company has also been placed on two years of enhanced regulatory supervision.

Five other safety charges laid against Global Sports Resources were withdrawn by the Crown. Seven charges levied under OHS legislation against Reward Construction Ltd., related to the same incident, were also stayed.

Global Sports Resources, based in Leduc County, specializes in the design, manufacture, supply and installation of equipment for sports facilities,with a focus on arenas and rinks.

Company officials could not be reached for comment.

The company and the Crown both have up to 30 days to appeal.