Lethbridge Courthouse. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

After employee paralyzed, Triple M Housing to pay fine to local non-profit

Nov 6, 2020 | 5:14 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Both sides were left happy at the resolution of a long-standing court case in Lethbridge.

Angela Entz was severely injured in May 2017 while employed by Triple M Housing, a builder of modular homes.

According to the Agreed Statement of Facts, she was working at the partition unit on the bottom floor of the company, while on the mezzanine area above her, components for ceilings are manufactured.

Two steel stands were positioned along a guard rail on the second floor directly above Entz, each weighing between 400-500 lbs.

An employee on the second floor was operating a crane that collided with the stands, causing one of them to fall a distance of 6.55 metres on top of her.

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Entz suffered a spinal cord injury and a right fibula fracture, rendering her quadriplegic.

At the time of the incident, there were no formal procedures, instructions, or warnings regarding the placement of the stands, which “created a clear risk as the stands were in a direct line where the gantry crane could move, and yet there was no assessment of this risk prior to the work commencing.”

Triple M Housing pleaded guilty to one charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Act Friday afternoon in Lethbridge Provincial Court.

The plea states that the company failed to ensure, as far as it was reasonably practicable to do so, the health and safety of Angela Entz…by failing to provide instruction on where stands should have been placed.

Five victim impact statements were read out in court by Entz, her three sisters, and her mother, describing how the incident has impacted their lives.

Entz, who had struggled to come up with the exact words to describe how she felt, recited the lyrics to the song, Divine Intervention, by Slayer.

In the end, a joint submission was accepted by the presiding judge, which will see Triple M Housing pay a fine of $135,000.

The money will go to the Lethbridge Therapeutic Riding Association and will be paid in full by mid-December.

The judge, crown, and defense agreed that this was a “terrific” proposal, as it would not only ensure Entz is able to benefit from the Association’s work, but many others as well.

An apology was read by Triple M’s attorney Jennifer Miller, which also included some of the steps the company has taken to prevent further workplace accidents.

These include:

• Installing clear signage for where stands can be stored
• Using engineered stands instead that are less likely to tip over
• Prohibiting the storage of any items in that area that may fall
• New “Golden Rules” such as increased inspections where the outcomes are monitored monthly.

Triple M reported that it has been 495 days since a single worker day has been lost due to injury.

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