City of Regina fined $100K for incident that injured employee

The City of Regina has been fined $100,000 for an incident in which an employee was injured when a piece of bus shelter glass fell on him.

In a media release Wednesday, the city said it had pleaded guilty in Regina Provincial Court to violating The Saskatchewan Health and Safety Act. The fine included a 40 per cent victim surcharge.

“The City of Regina’s top priority is the health and safety of its workers and residents,” said the release, summarizing remarks made after a city council meeting by executive director of financial strategy and sustainability Barry Lacey.

“In this case, a city worker suffered significant injuries on the job. This is never acceptable, and the City has acknowledged its responsibility.”

The release said the city didn’t have the proper safety practices in place to protect the worker, who was among a group working inside a shipping container to unload heavy bus shelter glass.

“This was too small a space to do the work safely,” the release said. “Due to the limited space in the container, the employee could not move out of the way of the glass as it fell on him, causing significant injuries.”

The statement said the city launched an investigation into the incident and co-operated with the Occupational Health and Safety investigation. It also instituted new procedures to make sure similar incidents didn’t happen again.

“Bus shelter glass is now handled by workers in a safe, open space, not inside shipping containers,” the release said. “Training requirements for employees uncrating glass have been revised, and before handling bus shelter glass, employees must now review and sign off on safety procedures.”

In the statement, the city offered a public apology to the employee who was injured and accepted responsibility for the unsafe conditions that led to his injuries.