SASKATOON - A Saskatoon-based gold mining company and a supervisor has been fined almost $27,000 for safety violations.
Claude Resources Inc. (TSX:CRJ) pleaded guilty to three charges under Saskatchewan occupational health and safety legislation and was fined $24,500 in Saskatoon provincial court earlier this month.
Claude shift boss Steve Strickland also pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable care to protect his health and safety and that of other workers and was fined $2,100.
The charges stemmed from a blasting operation on Jan. 22, 2012 at Laonil Lake.
The concussion from the blast knocked Strickland and another employee to the ground, injuring the employee and another worker's leg was broken when a truck was pushed forward by the blast, pinning him to a wall.
The company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure work was sufficiently and competently supervised; failing to ensure appropriate written procedures were provided to a worker who conducts a blasting operation to ensure the safety of the worker and any other person in the vicinity of the blasting operations; and failing to ensure that in the case of a blast initiated by electrical means, that only an approved blasting machine is used.