Charges laid in 2023 workplace death at St. Alban's fish farm
Employee was found unresponsive in the water at the time
Occupational Health and Safety charges have been laid against a fish farming operation on Newfoundland's south coast following the death of an employee in July 2023.
The man who died was an employee of Nova Fish Farm Inc., which is a subsidiary of Nova Scotia-based Ocean Trout Canada. The company operates a fish farm in St. Alban's and has operated in Newfoundland and Labrador since 2021.
The employee, who had been working on a barge, was found unresponsive in the water. Efforts to resuscitate the man were unsuccessful, the RCMP said at the time.
The charges, laid out in a news release by the Department of Digital Government and Service N.L. on Friday, include several charges for a failure to provide the necessary equipment, systems, information, training and supervision to ensure worker safety. They also include a failure to ensure safe work procedures are followed and that workers are familiar with work and safety hazards.
Other charges include a failure to ensure a safe means of crossing is used when a worker needs to board and leave floating equipment, failing to ensure that conditions that may lead to a risk of drowning are addressed and a failure to ensure a vessel is kept clean of obstruction or slipping hazards.
A supervisor with the company is also charged with failing to ensure the health and safety of workers is met under their supervision, the release said.
Both companies and the supervisor will appear in court in Grand Falls-Windsor on Wednesday.
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