Sask. asphalt firm guilty in worker's 2017 death
BLS Asphalt has been found guilty for its role in the 2017 death of a worker at the company's gravel pit south of Regina, a Saskatchewan court has ruled.
Troy Lucyk died on Nov. 22, 2017 after becoming entangled in the tail pulley of a conveyor system and being crushed to death. He was 33.
BLS Asphalt was charged with three criminal offences following an investigation by Occupational Health and Safety.
In Weyburn Provincial Court on March 30, Judge Michelle Brass found BLS “did not provide information, instruction, training or supervision on the clearing of the chute that led to Mr. Lucyk becoming entangled in the tail pulley.”
BLS Asphalt was also found guilty on the charge that it failed to provide an effective safeguard at the point where a worker may contact a dangerous moving part of the tail pulley.
Brass found BLS Asphalt not guilty on the charge of failing to ensure that stopping devices on a machine are located in the direct view and within easy reach of the operator and readily identifiable as required.
Court heard that RCMP were called to the gravel pit in Ceylon, an hour's drive south of Regina, at about 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2017.
RCMP Const. Lyndon Lanoie told court that when he arrived, he saw that Lucyk's right leg had been caught up on machinery.
Court heard Lucyk had worked for BLS Asphalt for about six months and the operation ran 24 hours with two 12-hour shifts. The Ceylon crusher gravel pit was set up for production just two weeks before the incident.
Two co-workers testified that Lucyk wasn't impaired the morning of the incident.
Lucyk was a diabetic but forensic pathologist Dr. Andreea Nister, who performed the autopsy, said Lucyk's glucose was within the expected range for a person with diabetes.
Dr. Nister said Lucyk died from excessive blood loss because the equipment severed his leg.
An obituary for Lucyk said he left behind a daughter. Lucyk enjoyed listening to and playing music. He liked BMX riding, sledding, snowboarding and riding his Harley.
BLS Asphalt will be sentenced in May in Weyburn Provincial Court.