Boucher Bros. Lumber paying $102K to Alberta Forest Products Association in ‘creative sentence’

Boucher Bros. Lumber has pled guilty to charges under Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act after a worker was injured by a wood planer.

The charges stem from an incident at a Nampa lumber and building supplies business on Sept. 28, 2022. The worker was injured when their hand contacted the blades of a wood planer.

Under a creative sentence, the company will pay $102,000 to the Alberta Forest Products Association for a mill safety education campaign that includes developing a series of safety education videos aimed at the lumber industry.

The OHS Act provides a creative sentence option in which funds that would otherwise be paid as fines are directed to an organization or project to improve or promote workplace health and safety.

The Crown withdrew 11 other charges under OHS legislation. Victim fine surcharges are added to fines payable to the Crown. Surcharges are not applied to payments to other entities under creative sentences.