The City of Humboldt has been fined $133,000 for a workplace accident that killed a city employee.
On Sept. 18, 2019, Ian Irwin was called to help connect a property to the city’s water system at an excavation site. Soon after he entered the excavation, the trench wall collapsed and Irwin was killed.
The city was charged under The Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, 1996.
According to a media release from the provincial government, the city failed “to ensure that a worker present in a trench that is more than 1.2 metres deep is protected from cave-ins or sliding material.”
The city, in a joint submission with the Crown, entered a guilty plea to the charge in Humboldt Provincial Court on Dec. 20. The city was fined $95,000 with a $38,000 surcharge.
In a media release after the guilty plea, Humboldt Mayor Michael Behiel said the fine does not place a financial value on the tragedy.
“Fines are not reflections of the tragic loss of life or the pain and suffering endured by family and friends,” Behiel said.
— With files from northeastNOW