Okanagan-based fruit and beverage maker Sun-Rype Products, the Interior Health Authority (IHA) and the Vernon School District are each facing sizable fines for violating occupational health and safety regulations.
Each of the three WorkSafeBC fines amounts to $75,000.
This week, School District 22 released a statement about its recent fine which came after it failed to ensure its workers were made aware of potential health and safety hazards, to effectively identify asbestos containing material (ACM) in its workplaces and for allowing personnel to work in areas contaminated with ACM, without taking necessary precautions and providing required training to recognize the hazards.
“[T]he district has failed in a number of areas. The district is working to address all of these deficiencies,” superintendent Joe Rogers said in a news release.
“While the district’s priority is on student learning, the district needs to ensure we have healthy and safe learning and working conditions.”
Rogers added that the district is working to control the risks and hazards in the district’s workplaces and to improve overall health and safety through effective engineering, management controls and programs.
The district said it added a new health and safety officer position last year and has done asbestos assessments of all the facilities it owns to identify any areas containing asbestos.
As the district works to renovate its older facilities, it aims to eliminate any ACM from the buildings, and said it’s committed to ensuring its asbestos exposure control plan is followed.
Meantime, Kelowna-based Sun-Rype Products is facing a similar fine which comes after a worker at its plant had an injury to the tip of their finger after it was crushed when a machine that stacks beverage cartons on pallets, cycled unexpectedly, according to WorkSafeBC’s website.
A WorkSafeBC, investigation found SunRype’s instructions for de-energizing the machine, called a palletizer, were not adequate and didn’t conform to the manufacturer’s lockout instructions.
“Workers who were performing maintenance work on machinery were exposed to energy sources, a hazard that the firm failed to effectively control. This was a repeated and high-risk violation,” WorkSafeBC’s website said.
In an e mail statement a SunRype spokesperson told Global News “we are pleased to report that the employee was back to work for his next scheduled shift a day later.”
“We are very disappointed in this decision by WorkSafeBC and are currently underway with a formal appeal process. As part of this appeal process SunRype has provided significant documentation demonstrating the company has fully met its due diligence in workplace safety protocols,” the email went on to say.
IHA’s fine, according to WorkSafeBC’s website, comes after an IHA worker became trapped between a dryer and an automated laundry shuttle after being struck by the shuttle.
The worker had entered a fenced area in the hospital to pick up dropped items before being hit and becoming stuck and sustaining serious injuries according to the WorkSafeBC website.
“WorkSafeBC’s investigation found that the employer failed to secure machinery parts against inadvertent movement and to secure devices using locks in accordance with procedures made available to all workers required to work on the equipment,” the website said.
“The employer also failed to ensure that workers could not access hazardous points of operation and that machinery was fitted with adequate safeguards to protect workers from contact with power transmission parts.”
According to WorkSafeBC, new staff weren’t given adequate training and orientation and IHA failed to ensure regular inspections were made of its workplace.
“Overall, the employer failed to provide its workers with adequate health and safety information, instruction, training, and supervision, and thereby failed to ensure the health and safety of all its workers. These were high-risk violations,” WorkSafeBC’s website said.
IHA corporate director for support services, Alan Davies told Global News the authority has paid the fine.
“All orders relating to this incident have been complied with. The safety of our staff is our top priority, we have done a significant amount of work to ensure that we don’t have similar incidents in the future,” Davies said.
~ With files from Megan Turcato
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