2 days ago
Alberta drilling company fined $126K following serious workplace injury
Oil pumping jacks, also known as "nodding donkeys", operate in an oilfield near Almetyevsk, Tatarstan, Russia, on Wednesday, March 11, 2020.(Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg)
An Edmonton-based drilling company has been sentenced after a worker was seriously injured on the job.
TAQA Drilling Solutions Inc. is being fined $126,000 as a result of an incident that happened three years ago.
On March 23, 2022, a worker was taking apart oilfield drilling equipment in Edmonton when they were struck by a projectile, according to a Friday government news release. The worker was seriously injured.
TAQA pleaded guilty to one charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Code (OHS) for failing to provide safeguards if a worker could come into contact with objects thrown by machinery or equipment.
The Crown withdrew eight other charges.
Under a 'creative sentence,' the company has been ordered to pay $126,000 to the Glenrose Hospital Foundation for neuromodulation research at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
The OHS Act provides a creative sentence option in which fines can be paid directly to an organization or project to improve or promote workplace health and safety.
