SUPPLIER AND WORKERS CONVICTED IN OILFIELD DEATH

A supplier of oilfield equipment and two employees of a drilling company have been convicted under the provincial Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations following an incident that caused the death of a worker. The court levied a total of $16,500 in fines and victim fine surcharges.

On April 13th, 2003, a 25-year-old employee of Precision Drilling died after being struck by a falling section of casing pipe. The incident took place on a drilling rig in the Midale oilfield area.

Gilles Power Tongs Ltd., as a supplier, pleaded guilty to a charge of failure to ensure that a lifting device was properly designed, constructed, maintained and operated and was fined $10,000. Investigators determined that the casing elevators had failed, allowing the casing pipe to fall because they had not been properly latched and that a fail safe pin used to ensure proper latching had been removed by the supplier. It is the first time a supplier has been charged since the Act was amended in 1993 to include them.

Scott Walkeden and Robert Ian Scott, employees of Precision Drilling, pleaded guilty to failure to meet their general duties as workers under the Act. Walkeden and Scott were the site supervisors and were the ones using the elevators without the safety pin. Each was fined $2,500, plus a $750 victim fine surcharge.

"Last year, the Occupational Health and Safety Division investigated 13 work-related fatalities," Division Executive Director Allan Walker said. "That's why we're taking action to enforce standards as part of an overall education and enforcement strategy."

The division will conduct over 4,500 workplace inspections and provide training to over 4,000 employer and worker representatives on their safety responsibilities this year.

Maximum penalties for an offence that causes the death or serious injury of a worker are $300,000 and two years in jail.

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For More Information, Contact:

Jennifer Fabian Labour Regina Phone: (306) 787-4498