Alberta's Eastern Irrigation District facing 10 charges over worker’s death

Alberta’s Eastern Irrigation District is facing 10 charges following the death of one worker in the line of work.

The incident happened in Brooks on Oct. 19, 2022, when a diver was engaged to assess, inspect and/or complete work at the Rolling Hills Reservoir and Lake Newell reservoir gates.

During the dive, the diver suffered fatal injuries.

It wasn’t clear what exactly happened to the 55-year-old diver, but officials said the man did not resurface, according to a CTV News report.

Following the incident, Eastern Irrigation District, being an employer, was charged with ten counts:

• Section 3(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act, failure to ensure (a) the health, safety and welfare of (i) workers engaged in the work of that employer, (ii) those workers not engaged in the work of that employer but present at the work site where work was being carried out, and (iii) other persons at or in the vicinity of the work site whose health and safety could be affected by identifiable and controllable hazards originating from the work site by failing to ensure flow in the vicinity of a dive was stopped before the dive began.
• Section 3(2) of the OHS Act, failure to ensure a worker engaged in the work of that employer was adequately trained in all matters necessary to perform their work in a healthy and safe manner.
• Section 3(2) of the OHS Act, failure to ensure another worker engaged in the work of that employer was adequately trained in all matters necessary to perform their work in a healthy and safe manner.
• Section 3(3)(a) of the OHS Act, failure to ensure work being done that could endanger a worker was done by a worker who was competent to do the work.
• Section 7(1) of the OHS Code, failure to assess a work site and identify existing and potential hazards before work began at the work site.
• Section 7(2) of the OHS Code, failure to prepare a report of the results of a hazard assessment and the methods used to control or eliminate the hazards identified.
• Section 115(1) of the OHS Code, failure to establish an emergency response plan for responding to an emergency that could require rescue or evacuation, an under-water rescue.
• Section 424(b) of the OHS Code, failure to ensure the diving operation performed by a worker at their work site met the requirements of CSA Standard CAN/CSA Z275.2-04, Occupational Safety Code for Diving Operations, contrary to section 424(b) of the OHS Code.
• Section 424(c) of the OHS Code, failure to ensure the diving operation performed by a worker at their work site met the requirements of CSA Standard CAN/CSA Z275.4-02, Competency Standard for Diving Operations, contrary to section 424(c) of the OHS Code.
• Section 437 of the OHS Code, failure to ensure the flow through the intake of a pipe, tunnel, duct or similar installation in the vicinity of a dive, was stopped and the intake mechanism was locked out before the dive began.