Employer must pay $70,000 for 2021 incident
Saskatchewan employer Sunterra Horticulture (Canada) Inc. has been fined $70,000 after one worker was seriously injured while conducting work in the line of horticulture.
The incident happened on Sept. 16, 2021, near Hyas, Sask.
A worker was seriously injured while attempting to dislodge a pallet and bale of peat moss, according to the provincial government.
Horticulture is the “science and art of the development, sustainable production, marketing and use of high-value, intensively cultivated food and ornamental plants,” according to the Michigan State University.
And peat moss is made up of “decomposed organic material salvaged from peat bogs,” according to Master Class.
“It makes an excellent soil amendment to potting mix and garden soil, and mound,” Master Class said.
On March 13, 2024, Sunterra Horticulture (Canada) Inc. pleaded guilty in Yorkton Provincial Court to one violation of The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 2020.
The company was fined for contravening clause 3-1 (a) of the regulations or “being an employer at a place of employment, fail to provide and maintain plant, systems of work and working environments that ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of the employer's workers, resulting in the serious injury of a worker,” said the provincial government.
As a result, the Yorkton Provincial Court imposed a fine of $50,000 with a surcharge of $20,000, for a total amount of $70,000.
One additional charge was withdrawn.
CTV News also reported the incident.
