Alberta company facing OHS charges in 2023 carbon monoxide poisoning death

A Nisku, Alta., company has been charged for violating Alberta's OHS Act and OHS Code after a worker died of carbon monoxide poisoning last year.

According to court documents, Jeffery Simmons died at a work site at or near Edmonton on Feb. 22, 2023.

The province's website says he was exposed to carbon monoxide while conducting sandblasting work using an air respirator with a supplied air system. A co-worker found him unresponsive. 

"Despite medical treatment, the injured worker succumbed to their injury," the website says. 

AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson said EMS arrived at 506 19th Ave in Nisku at about 11:51 a.m. and took one patient to hospital in critical, life-threatening condition.

NC Equipment Ltd. was charged with 22 counts of contravening the Occupation Health and Safety (OHS) Act and OHS Code. 

The charges, which were laid on Sept. 18., include failing to adequately maintain equipment, failing to ensure a worker was adequately trained and failing to determine the degree of danger to a worker at a work site.

The charges have not been proven in court. 

The province's OHS employer database shows there was a stop work order and a stop use order issued for the company on Feb. 23, 2023, a day after the workplace fatality. The employer complied with the orders.

According to NC Equipment's website, the family-run company rents and sells heavy equipment. 

When reached by phone by CBC News, the company declined to comment at this time.

An OHS spokesperson said in an email that workplace fatalities are always tragic and the government's goal is to have all workers return home safely after every workday.