Two Calgary-area construction companies have been fined a combined $250,000 after pleading guilty to occupational health and safety violations linked to a workplace incident that left a worker seriously injured.Excel Management Limited Partnership and Benchmark Cribbing Inc. entered guilty pleas in Calgary Court of Justice on June 2 in connection with a December 2023 accident at a residential development in Calgary.The incident occurred while workers were installing foundation forms at the construction site. According to court records, a cage containing panels fell, striking and pinning a worker, resulting in serious injuries.Excel Management Limited Partnership, acting as the prime contractor on the project, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure workers were adequately trained to perform their duties safely.Three additional charges against Excel Management Limited Partnership, Excel G.P. Ltd. and Excel Homes Limited Partnership were withdrawn by the Crown.Benchmark Cribbing Inc. pleaded guilty to one count under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for failing to ensure storage racks used for materials and equipment were placed on foundations capable of supporting the load.Three other charges against Benchmark were withdrawn..A third defendant originally named in the case had proceedings stayed by the Crown.The court ordered both companies to pay fines of $125,000 each, including the mandatory victim fine surcharge.The penalty against Excel is payable immediately, while Benchmark has until Dec. 23, 2026, to pay its fine.Both the companies and the Crown have 30 days to appeal either the convictions or the penalties imposed by the court.Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety legislation establishes minimum workplace safety standards for employers and workers across the province. Charges may be laid when violations of those standards result in a fatality or serious injury.The province noted that Alberta's OHS Act also includes a creative sentencing option that allows courts to direct funds that would otherwise be paid as fines toward projects or organizations that promote workplace health and safety. In this case, traditional fines were imposed.The case stems from one of several workplace safety prosecutions pursued by Alberta following serious incidents on construction sites, an industry that continues to rank among the province's highest-risk sectors for workplace injuries.
