Medicine Hat company fined $360,000 following 2023 workplace death
by Stephen Tipper · Calgary HeraldA Medicine Hat-based metal fabricating company has been fined $360,000 after admitting it failed to keep safe a worker who died in a 2023 incident.
HTK Iron Works Ltd. had pleaded guilty to one count of failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker under the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act. On Feb. 1, 2023, a worker died at a metal fabrication shop near Burdett, about 60 kilometres southeast of Medicine Hat, after being hit by a fabricated windbreak panel that fell from a moving forklift.
On Oct. 2, the company was sentenced in the Medicine Hat Court of Justice. Four other OHS charges were withdrawn.
The $360,000 fine includes a 20 per cent victim fine surcharge, which amounts to $72,000.
HTK Iron Works Ltd. and the Crown have up to 30 days to appeal the fine or conviction.