Three companies convicted in 2022 death of Alberta worker at Suncor mine

Three companies have been penalized more than $1.2 million in the death of a 26-year-old man who was fatally struck by piece of equipment at Suncor's Base Mine nearly three years ago.

The contractor died on July 7, 2022, at a shovel maintenance pad in the mine, about 30 kilometres north of Fort McMurray.

A piece of equipment known as a pendant line that had been suspended from a crane fell, striking the heavy equipment technician who was conducting shovel maintenance duties on site.

In a statement Friday, Occupational Health and Safety officials said Suncor Energy Services Inc., Joy Global Canada Ltd., and  NCSG Crane & Heavy Haul Services Ltd. have been convicted in the worker's death.

Each company pleaded guilty to a single count under Alberta's workplace safety laws and were sentenced March 21 in the Fort McMurray Court of Justice.

A total of 29 other charges levied against the companies were withdrawn by the Crown as part of a creative sentence that will see the penalties help fund safety programming in the province.

Suncor Energy Services Inc. pleaded guilty to one count under the OHS Code for failing to ensure sharp edges on loads being hoisted were guarded to prevent damage to the rigging. The company was penalized $495,000. Ten other counts against the oilsands giant were withdrawn.

Joy Global, a mining equipment company, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker. The company was penalized $374,000. 

NCSG Crane & Heavy Haul Services Ltd., pleaded guilty to failing to ensure a hazard assessment was repeated when a new work process was introduced and was fined $374,000.

Some of the stayed charges previously levied against the companies that had employed the man were failing to ensure workers engaged in handling components from a boom shovel were adequately trained, and failing to ensure the work site was set up safely so that a load would not pass over workers.

As part of the sentence, the $1.234 million in penalties issued by the court will allocated to the University of Calgary, University of Alberta and Mount Royal University for workplace safety research.

According to the province, the funds will be used to study rigging and hoisting practices, to develop recommendations for improved safety practices for the industry and establish an OHS research institute model for Alberta.

In addition to the creative sentence, each company was fined $1,000 including the victim fine surcharge.

The worker's death was part of a trend at Suncor's mining operations in northern Alberta. Between 2014 and 2022,  the Calgary-based energy company had at least 12 workplace deaths at its sites, more than the rest of its oilsands peers combined. 

The companies and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the conviction or penalties.