Weyerhaeuser Company Limited pleaded guilty May 19 for failing to ensure the health and safety of a worker after a man died on the job in Grande Prairie, Alberta, on November 18, 2023. 

Convicted under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act, the company has been ordered to pay $355,000 to Northwestern Polytechnic for the development of a comprehensive training program known as the Northern Industrial Safety Pathways Program, which will provide structured training and tuition support for new and inexperienced workers entering industrial roles in sectors including forestry, oil and gas, manufacturing, mining and agriculture. 

The unnamed worker was using a pike pole to clear an obstruction/blockage in a canter machine when the pike pole came in contact with the energized rotating side heads. The pike pole was ejected from the machinery, striking and fatally injuring the worker.

The company initially faced 13 charges in relation to this workplace fatality, including a failure to ensure the safety and welfare of a worker, a failure to ensure the worker was adequately trained and for allowing a worker to clear a blockage in a machine without shutting it down.