Vikki Hopes
Abbotsford News
A Mission company has been fined $100,000 for a workplace incident that resulted in the death of 22-year-old Kelsey Ann Kristian in 2007.
Stave Lake Quarries pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal negligence causing death, and was sentenced Oct. 27 in Surrey provincial court to pay the fine, as well as a $15,000 victim surcharge, by April 2018.
Charges against two individuals were stayed.
Kristian was killed at the Stave Lake Quarries on May 17, 2007, when she was pinned by a runaway truck as it rolled onto its side. It was her second day on the job.
She had been cleaning the window of a heavy-duty truck at the time, but the transmission was in neutral, the parking brake wasn’t set and there was no wedge beneath the wheel.
A review of the incident concluded that Kristian had not received adequate training or supervision.
BC Federation of Labour president Irene Lanzinger said the fine is a “slap on the wrist.”
“There was no justice for Ms. Kristian or her family, friends and loved ones. Clearly, given the circumstances, a tougher punishment was warranted,” she said.
Lanzinger said almost 200 workers a year die on the job and countless thousands are injured.
“When an employer’s actions result in a workplace death or injury, the boss needs to face real consequences, including jail time.”
