Finning International, Heavy equipment, web image via https://www.finning.com/
FORT MCMURRAY — Finning International Inc. has been ordered to pay $155,000 after pleading guilty to an occupational health and safety offence connected to a serious workplace injury near Mildred Lake.
The heavy equipment company pleaded guilty Oct. 16 in Fort McMurray Court of Justice to one count under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Code for failing to ensure equipment was operated according to the manufacturer’s specifications.
All remaining charges were withdrawn.
The sentence stems from a Dec. 14, 2023 incident at an equipment yard near Mildred Lake, where a worker was seriously injured after being struck by a moving loader.
Under a creative sentence, the court ordered Finning to pay $155,000 to the Alberta Motor Transport Association.
The money will be used to develop and deliver practical safety education for people who work on or attend third-party worksites throughout Alberta.
Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety Act allows courts to use creative sentences that direct money otherwise paid as fines toward organizations or projects intended to improve or promote workplace health and safety.
The province says charges under occupational health and safety laws may be laid when failures to follow workplace safety rules result in serious injury or death.
Finning and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalty.
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