A Virden-based company was one of two companies fined for a work-site accident in Saskatchewan nearly two years ago.
A Government of Saskatchewan news release says two out-of-province companies were fined for Occupational Health and Safety violations after pleading guilty in Weyburn Provincial Court on Jan. 15, 2019.
Great Western Tong Services (1987) Ltd. of Virden, pleaded guilty to failing to provide an effective safeguard where a worker may contact a dangerous moving part of a machine. The company was fined $35,000.
Western Energy Services Corp., operating as Horizon Drilling, of Calgary, was fined $100,000 for failing to ensure that all work at a place of employment is sufficiently and competently supervised, resulting in a serious injury to a worker.
Both companies were fined following a workplace incident on March 19, 2017, near Stoughton. A worker was hospitalized after the worker’s forearm became entangled in the moving gear of a power tong.
Power tongs are described as big, self-locking wrenches, usually powered pneumatically or hydraulically, used to secure drill pipe, casing, tubing, or other pipe.
