Stockyard ordered to pay $325,000 after worker death and injury

Spiritwood Stockyards Ltd. has been ordered to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and surcharges after two incidents which left one worker dead and other seriously hurt.

The company pleaded guilty to two violations of Saskatchewan’s occupational health and safety regulations in a Spiritwood courtroom earlier this month, leading to a total fine of $232,142.86 along with a surcharge of $92,857.14, bringing the total up to $325,000.

Five additional charges were withdrawn.

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The first of the two incidents, which happened near Spiritwood in November of 2021, saw a worker seriously injured when they were struck by a gate while trying to load two bulls into a trailer. The violation which the company admitted was for failing to provide and require protective headwear.

The second incident, which happened in the same area in January of 2022, left a worker dead after they fell through a fiberglass skylight while trying to clear snow from a roof. The regulatory violation in that case was a requirement that workers use a fall-protection system in any area where a worker may fall more than three metres.

According to paNOW, the company shut down shortly after the charges were laid.