By Charlene Tebbutt

Carrier Forest Products fined in connection with 2015 workplace death

Mar 27, 2018 | 5:30 PM

A Big River lumber company has been fined for occupational health and safety violations in relation to the death of an employee in 2015.

Carrier Forest Products Ltd. was fined $62,500 in January, plus a 40 per cent surcharge, for a total of $87,500 at Prince Albert Provincial Court. Carrier pleaded guilty to failing to provide an effective safeguard where a worker may contact a dangerous moving part under occupational health and safety regulations. A second count of failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all workers, resulting in the death of an employee, was withdrawn. 

Jonathon Jonasson, 31, died following a workplace incident at the mill in Big River on September 8, 2015. Court documents show Jonasson was working to repair a plugged wood chipper at the sawmill when a rotating blade broke off and struck him. The judgment noted the chipper was not properly shut down at the time and did not have a safety switch to prevent the machine from operating when the machine’s hood, or guard, is open.  

Bill Kordyban, president of Carrier Forest Products Ltd., said Tuesday the company has made improvements following Jonasson’s death in 2015. Carrier spent more than $400,000 following Jonasson’s death, providing grief counselling for employees, additional OH&S training and making safety modifications which included adding the safety switch to the chipper.

“It’s just a tragic situation, and we never want anything like this to happen again,” Kordyban told paNOW Tuesday.

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“We felt we had a good safety record prior and we thought we had a safe working environment for employees. We did a review of our safety system (and) made some appropriate changes that were necessary,” he said.

The written court judgment noted Carrier has not previously been cited or convicted for safety violations. The judge in the case, Judge B. Lane, pointed to human error in the case, saying Jonasson was eager to get the job done and failed to turn off the chipper before he worked on it.

“Sadly, this is part of human nature and this is something that employers everywhere must be aware of,” Lane said. “People are people and they make mistakes. As has been acknowledged by Carrier, the proximity switch would have eliminated the possibility of human error.”

The court judgment also looked at Carrier’s work in the community, noting that Big River is a “company town” employing more than 130 people and contributing much to the local economy. The judge questioned whether a large fine would also affect the wider community and decided against a recommendation from the Crown to impose a fine of $500,000 plus a surcharge of $200,000.

“While I recognize that the primary function of the court in a sentencing like this is to provide specific and general deterrence, this case is unique in that it has the potential to collapse the entire economy in the district of Big River, Saskatchewan,” Lane wrote in his judgment. “This is not to say that the Court is warming up to Carrier. This is to say that hundreds of families, including many Aboriginal and Metis families, who do not often get these job opportunities, potentially have their economic future hanging in the balance.”

Kordyban said the company makes a point of remembering Jonasson each year with a moment of silence.

“Every year, we make note at the mill of Jonathon’s passing and it’s a reminder for everybody there to keep his memory alive,” he said.

charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt