Two firms and two supervisors plead guilty to charges after unprotected employee falls off a bridge under construction
More than two years after a worker fell to his death from a bridge under construction, two companies and two supervisors have been fined in a court in Fort St. John, B.C.
A release from WorkSafeBC, the provincial worker safety agency, said that when the man fell in northeastern B.C., he had no fall-protection equipment and there were no guardrails.
Brian Baker, Randolph Kosick, Yoho Resources and Great Northern Bridgeworks had previously pleaded guilty to charges under the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation.
Court documents show Yoho Resources, the main contractor, and Great Northern Bridgeworks, the victim's employer, have each been fined $70,000, plus a 15 per cent victim fine surcharge.
Bridge foreman Randolph Kosick has been fined $8,500, Yoho's site supervisor Brian Baker is fined $7,500, plus victim fine surcharges, and they and company representatives must attend court-ordered health and safety courses.
Al Johnson, head of prevention services for WorkSafe, says the guilty pleas and sentences show there are ``serious enforcement consequences'' when employers don't live up to their obligations to keep workers safe. “Every worker has the right to go home healthy and safe at the end of the day,'' Johnson says in the statement.
