Saskatchewan Wheat Pool and one of its employees will stand trial in December to face charges arising from an accident that killed a young farmer and seriously injured a pool employee.
Kevin Ralph, 22, of Arborfield, Sask., died June 1997 after a grain auger struck an overhead power line at the Sask Pool elevator yard at Carrot River, Sask.
Terrence Bolland, 20 at the time and a pool employee, was seriously injured.
The pool and employee Andre Lacoursiere, manager of the Carrot River elevator at the time of the accident, have pleaded not guilty to a series of charges under the Canada Labor Code.
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The company and Lacoursiere are jointly named on eight of the counts, while Lacoursiere alone is named on the other two. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of a $100,000 fine.
The charges allege they failed to ensure the health and safety of employees, failed to provide adequate training and supervision for Bolland, failed to inform him of potential hazards at the workplace and failed to take steps to protect the health and safety of anyone else likely to be affected by his actions, specifically Ralph.
The case is scheduled be heard in provincial court in Carrot River beginning Dec. 14, with three days set aside for the trial. Carrot River is about 300 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.
The accident occurred after Ralph arrived at the elevator for a load of seed grain. The auger was to be used to load grain onto his truck.
A member of the Ralph family said last week the family hopes publicity about the case prevents similar accidents.
“We would like to see all the other elevators yards have some safety checks on them, so that this doesn’t happen again to some other family,” said the family member, who asked not to be identified.
