A Calgary plumbing contractor has been ordered to pay $330,000 after pleading guilty to an Occupational Health and Safety offence stemming from a workplace fatality at a construction site in 2023.Mr. Mike's Plumbing Ltd. pleaded guilty Monday in Calgary Court of Justice to one count of failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act. Ten additional charges were withdrawn by the Crown.The charges relate to an incident on June 8, 2023, at a water and sewer line construction site in Calgary, where a worker was killed after an excavation collapsed and buried the individual.The court imposed a $115,000 fine, including the mandatory victim fine surcharge.In addition, the company was ordered to pay $215,000 under a creative sentence to the Injury Prevention Centre.The organization will use the funding to carry out a provincewide workplace safety awareness campaign aimed at helping young workers identify hazards, report unsafe conditions and reduce workplace injuries through education and collaboration with industry..Under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act, creative sentences allow courts to direct money that would otherwise be paid as fines toward organizations or projects that promote workplace health and safety.The company and Crown prosecutors have 30 days to appeal either the conviction or the sentence.Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety laws establish minimum safety standards for workplaces and outline employers' responsibilities to protect workers. Charges can be laid when alleged violations result in serious injuries or fatalities.
