Agrium fined $490K over 2016 mine Accident

Agrium Inc. has been fined $490,000 after pleading guilty to a single charge in connection with an accident at its Vanscoy potash mine that left a worker with serious injuries.

Derick Perschke spent 11 days in the hospital following the Aug. 21, 2016, incident. He underwent surgery to remove part of his spleen, and was left with memory and anger issues as well as no sense of smell or taste, Crown prosecutor Buffy Rodgers said Wednesday.

The fine includes a $350,000 penalty and a $140,000 victim surcharge.

Agrium merged with Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan Inc. to form Nutrien Ltd. in a multibillion-dollar blockbuster deal on Jan. 1. Nutrien now owns and operates the Vanscoy mine 30 kilometres southwest of Saskatoon.

“I think it was a just result, and that it will serve the primary purpose of deterrence,” Rodgers said of Agrium’s decision to plead guilty to the charge of failing to provide a work environment that reasonably ensured the health and safety of employees.

“That’s what we want to see happen in these cases. We want a fine that is going to be meaningful and deter other corporations, just ensure they are providing safe workplaces,” she added.

Nutrien spokesman Will Tigley said in an email that Perschke was injured while working with “conveyor equipment.”

The company has since made several changes to its safety processes, including “comprehensive safety reviews,” ongoing training for leadership and “reinforcing our safety priorities and needs with all employees,” Tigley said.

Less than two weeks before Perschke was injured, 29-yearold Chad Wiklun suffered grievous injuries after being crushed between two pieces of equipment underground at the same mine. He died three days later in a Saskatoon hospital.

The company is not expected to face charges in connection with Wiklun’s death, but has faced at least two other major fines related to workplace safety incidents at the Vanscoy mine over the last decade.

Agrium was fined $420,000 in 2012 in connection with the 2010 death of 59-year-old Edward Artic, who was struck in the head by a component falling from a hanging load.

Four years earlier, the company was fined $234,000 in connection with a 2006 incident in which a worker was injured by a falling rock.