weyburn Vol.114 No. 43 - Weyburn, Saskatchewan Wednesday, October 23, 2024 - 14 Pages
Eagles eliminated
review
Experience shared Celebrate with Rotary Small Chef Adam Mazer shared his expertise with Business Week culinary the Weyburn Rotary Club.
Weyburn Comp Eagles fell 21-7 to Moose Jaw Central in semi-finals. Page 6
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RISE choir entertains at fowl supper
Photo – Greg Nikkel, SaskToday.ca
The Weyburn Comp’s RISE Choir sang a medley of Beatles songs, as part of their performance at the school’s fowl supper on Thursday evening.They will also be part of the opening ceremonies for the Weyburn Communithon, which starts at 8 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Weyburn Legion Hall.
Weyburn Communithon set to entertain, raise funds for eight agencies A full lineup of entertainment will take to the stage for the Weyburn Communithon telethon on Friday, Oct. 25 at the Weyburn Legion Hall, to benefit eight community agencies. The telethon, broadcast live on Access Communications and live-streamed at www.communithon. com, kicks off at 8 a.m. with the opening cere-
monies and the RISE Choir, with fun provided by the Office Olympics competition. The city’s schools will take over from 9 a.m. until 2:45 p.m., including school and class choirs from Assiniboia Park, St. Michael School and the Weyburn Comp senior jazz band and senior choir in the morning. The afternoon will in-
clude Legacy Park grade choirs, then community entertainment will fill the schedule for the balance of the afternoon and evening. The afternoon portion will feature traditional Indian dancers, Small Voices of Grace, singer Daviney Berg and dancers from the Wheatland Seniors Centre. The early half of the evening will include the
youth choir from St. Vincent de Paul, the Spirit of Grace, the Monster Mash (a dance featuring children wearing costumes), the Weyburn Malayali community, the Spirit Singers, and singer Kailyn McFadden. The final hours of the evening will include the Variations community choir, the Caragana Ramblers, Pat Acton with
his guitar, a “Minute to Win It” competition, the Air Band competition and a round table up to the end of the evening. The closing celebration and final tally will be at 11 p.m. Donations can be made online, in person at the Legion Hall with cash, cheque or debit, or cheques can be mailed to Box 1454, Weyburn,
Sask., S4H 3J9. The eight community agencies to benefit from the Communithon include Big Brothers and Big Sisters Weyburn, Canadian Mental Health Association, Weyburn Care-AVan, CNIB Foundation, Envision Counselling and Support Centre, Inclusion Weyburn, Southeast Advocates, and Spinal Cord Injury Saskatchewan.
SaskPower fined $840,000 in deaths of two Weyburn linemen By Greg Nikkel, SaskToday.ca SaskPower was fined a total of $840,000 in relation to the deaths of two linemen in Weyburn in 2020, with the penalty imposed in Weyburn provincial court on Friday morning. This is the largest in Saskatchewan history for a single incident resulting in a single or multiple serious injuries and/or fatalities. A fine of $935,000
had been levied against EVRAZ for two separate incidents in 2019. The Crown corporation was found guilty on April 6 on three counts of violations of the Occupational Health and Safety regulations, and the Saskatchewan Employment Act, after two SaskPower linemen, Scott Bill and Cole Crooks, died in a workplace incident on Oct. 8, 2020, in Weyburn. The two men were
IBEW union rep reacts
Ken Hoste, assistant business manager for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), spoke to media about the fines of $840,000 levied on SaskPower, found guilty in the deaths of two Weyburn linemen in 2020, while working on a site on Photo – Greg Nikkel, SaskToday.ca Weyburn’s South Hill.
more than 15 feet above ground in a bucket truck that had had tilting issues, tying in power lines on Government Road South and Sixth Avenue, when the bucket tilted and both men fell to the ground, killing both workers. Both men were 19-year experienced journeymen, and according to the court records, had worked in this bucket truck countless times before, but “neither worker had their safety belt lanyards anchored to the ‘D’ ring located in the bucket specifically for the purpose of fall protection.” Judge Michelle Brass noted that this bucket had a tilting issue that continued in spite of work done by SaskPower mechanics. She pointed out that none of the mechanics gave evidence at trial, “so it was not known what was done to address the tilting issue.” In addition, she said, a supervisor on the ground had failed to remind the workers to tie onto the safety line. Following an investigation, SaskPower was charged with four counts of violations, and were subsequently found guilty of the first three counts. These charges stated the following: “Count 1 alleged that SPC failed to provide and maintain plant, systems of work and work environments, as reasonably practicable, to ensure the health, safe-
ty and welfare of Messrs. Bill and Crooks at work. “Count 2 alleged that SPC failed to provide any information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to protect the workers. “Count 3 alleged that SPC failed to require or permitted the workers to be raised on an aerial device without using a personal fall arrest system that met the requirements under the legislation.” The Crown prosecutor had recommended a fine of $500,000 for each count and a surcharge of $200,000, for a total of $2.1 million, while SaskPower asked for a fine of $200,000 on each charge for a total of $600,000. In the end, Judge Michelle Brass fined SaskPower $300,000 on the first count plus a surc h a rg e o f $ 1 2 0 , 0 0 0 , and $150,000 on each of the other two counts, along with surcharges of $60,000 on each charge, for the total of $840,000. In a statement from the Crown corporation on Friday, they said, “SaskPower is analyzing the decision and the sentence delivered by the Court.” A representative of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2067, Ken Hoste, commented after the verdict he is hopeful the fines will bring closure to the families, and will change the safety culture at SaskPower.
“No fine or court ruling is going to bring these guys home to their families,” said Hoste. “I hope this highlights that a topdown change is needed to the safety culture at SaskPower.” He added he didn’t come in with any expectations of what the fines would be. “I know there have been higher fines for workplace deaths in the province, but I didn’t have any expectations as to the numbers,” he said. “I only hope it helps bring closure to the families. When something like this happens, Weyburn is a close-knit community, and these people were dedicated linemen. Really, I just hope the family, friends and coworkers, everybody can get some closure there,” adding that he was not going to speak for the families as he couldn’t imagine what they’ve been going through. Hoste said the union represents workers province-wide, and “it has affected every single member in the province, whether we work in generation, the T&D side or the line trade. We’re just hoping it brings forth meaningful and sustained change to the safety practices and top-down safety culture at SaskPower.” The hope also is that this verdict and fine will encourage workers to
speak up if they see something wrong safety-wise at a work site. “I hope it encourages workers to speak up. The general rule is, if you see something wrong with regards to safety, say something. I hope that this encourages more of our members to feel empowered to speak up when something isn’t right regarding safety,” said Hoste, adding that as a union, they will continue to collaborate with the company on safety issues and practices. The union sits in on health and safety committees and have some input there, he added, “but at the end of the day they decide how they will go forward with things.” In a statement issued by SaskPower on Friday, they stated, “Scott Bill and Cole Crooks were valued members of our SaskPower family. Their loss continues to be felt by us all. Our thoughts and deepest condolences go out to the family and friends of these two employees. “SaskPower continues to make the safety of our employees, contractors, and the public our highest priority. We are always working to improve safety and learning at SaskPower, and this includes delivering the programs we created with employees through our Roadmap to Safety initiative.