Massive Fine Levied for Worker Fatality

A numbered company in Alberta has been issued a whopping $350,000 fine in connection with a September 19, 2003 explosion that killed a worker in Edmonton.

A worker was welding in a tank when heat generated by his equipment ignited methane gas present in the vessel. The employee, who was thrown against the wall of the tank, died four days later in hospital.

The numbered company, operating as DJZ’s Welding at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to allowing hot work to be performed where a flammable substance could be present. The fine is one of the largest ever levied for an OHS offence in Alberta.