Following an accident that took place at a construction site in Estevan on August 18, 2011, Dwayne Lazar and Kirk Parazader, were each handed $3,500 fines, plus a $1,400 victim surcharge for failing to follow occupational health and safety regulations on the job site, while the Glen Peterson Construction company, represented by Ken Peterson, received a $1,000 fine plus a $400 victim surcharge for failing to notify the Health and Safety Commission. These people appeared in Estevan provincial court on Monday morning.
On August 18, 2011, the Glen Peterson Construction Company was hired to install service lines to a restaurant in Estevan, which required excavation with a backhoe. The Crown explained to presiding judge Karl Bazin that the depth of the resulting trench was two metres deep, and therefore required a safety cage, which was to be utilized on site so workers could work in the trench safely. The Crown also said when a trench is more than 1.2 metres, depending on the thickness of the soil, it needs to be cut back to prevent cave-ins. Lazar, who was the supervisor on site, allowed Parazader - who deemed the trench safe enough to work in without a safety cage or alteration to the trench itself - and two other workers, to enter the trench and work on the service lines. The trench then caved in, and broke Parazader's femur, injured his shoulder and knee, and as a result he required surgery. The Crown stressed that incidents such as falling from a height and trench cave-ins were the leading cause of death on job sites in Saskatchewan.
Ken Peterson said he believed the paperwork regarding the incident was being sorted out by "one of the girls," in the office, but took responsibility for the fact that the proper paperwork didn't happen.
Lazar acknowledged the fact that safety protocols weren't followed to their fullest, but argued only Parazader entered the trench, while the others were standing on the ledge of the trench. He then continued and said he's been in the business for a long time, and that this was the first incident he's ever had.
The $3,500 fines, plus the $1,400 surcharges for Lazar and Parazader, along with the $1000 fine, plus the $400 surcharge for the company, was then suggested by the Crown, which Bazin accepted.
In other proceedings, Justin Roy Richard pleaded guilty to driving impaired, driving with an unregistered vehicle, and driving while disqualified on April 29 in Estevan.
While police were attending to an unrelated ticketed vehicle, the officer handling the process noticed a red Jimmy parked unusually nearby, and upon approaching the vehicle shortly after, the officer noted Richard had glossy eyes and had difficulty walking. The Crown suggested because this was Richard's subsequent offence, he be given the minimum sentence of 120 days in prison, a two-year driving prohibition, and a one-year probation period. Due to a technicality however, his charge was reduced to 30 days in jail, but his two-year driving prohibition and one-year probation period remained intact.
