Saskatchewan steel firm fined $60,000 after maintenance worker injured

Regina, SK — Evraz Regina Steel has pleaded guilty to one count under Saskatchewan’s Occupational Health and Safety Act and was fined $60,000. The fine is the largest for an OHS violation in the 2011-12 year in the province.

The company, formerly known as IPSCO, is a mini-mill recycling steel scrap and producing plate and coil, which is then converted into energy tubular products. It is a subsidiary of Chicago-based Evraz Inc. NA.

The company was charged after a January 20, 2009, incident at its Regina plant in which a worker, Walter Mishak, was seriously injured when he became entangled in the motor drive shaft of a crane hoist he was repairing.

Evraz pleaded guilty to failure to ensure there was an effective safeguard in place to prevent workers from contacting a dangerous moving part of a machine.

Another charge against the company — for the failure to ensure a machine is locked out prior to maintenance and repair — was stayed in Regina Provincial Court.

OHS conducts about 4,500 worksite inspections annually to ensure standards are balanced, known and enforced.