Workplace death results in penalty for northern Alberta forestry company

Fresh cut lumber is pictured stacked at a mill along the Stave River in Maple Ridge, B.C., April 25, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

A forestry company has been penalized following the death of a worker in northern Alberta.

Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd. pleaded guilty on May 19 to one count of failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker after an incident near Grande Prairie on Nov. 18, 2023.

The worker was struck and killed by a pike pole, which had been ejected from a machine they had been clearing an obstruction of.

A news release from the ministry of jobs, economy, trade and immigration said the incident occurred at a lumber mill.

The court ordered the company to pay $355,000 to Northwestern Polytechnic to develop the Northern Industrial Safety Pathways Program, which will provide training and tuition support for new and inexperienced workers in the forestry, oil and gas, manufacturing, mining, and agriculture sectors.

Weyerhaeuser faced 12 other charges that were ultimately dropped by the Crown.

The Crown and the company have 30 days to appeal the penalty.