13 charges laid after worker killed at Grande Prairie lumber mill

Logs are off loaded from a transport truck at the Spray Lake Sawmills in Cochrane, Alta., Thursday, May 20, 2021.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

A U.S. timber company is facing 13 charges after a worker was killed at a lumber mill near Grande Prairie in November 2023 while clearing a blockage in a machine that turns logs into sawn timber and chips.

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Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) reports the man was clearing the machinery while it was still turned on. It said the pike pole he was using came in contact with a rotating side head and was ejected out of the machine, hitting and killing him.

OHS laid 13 charges against Weyerhaeuser Company Limited in March. They include:

• failing to ensure health and safety laws by allowing the man to clear the machine without shutting it down;
• failing to ensure the man was adequately trained to perform his work in a healthy and safe manner;
• failure to address or eliminate an existing hazard under OHS code; and
• failure to provide safeguards should a worker come into contact with machinery or equipment to cut, shape or bore materials.

Weyerhaeuser Company Limited is expected to appear at the Grande Prairie Court of Justice on May 21, 2025.

A full list of charges can be found on the Government of Alberta website.