Sask. farmer fined in contractor employee’s death

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Published: September 21, 2010

A southern Saskatchewan farmer has been fined over the electrocution death of a concrete company employee working on his property.

Jeffrey Wilcocks, who farms in the Southey area north of Regina, pled guilty Sept. 15 in Provincial Court in Regina to one charge under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety regulations.

Wilcocks is to pay total fines of $8,400, the province’s occupational health and safety branch said in a release Friday.

Shawn Parker was fatally electrocuted while working on a crew contracted to pour and level a concrete floor in a shop on the Wilcocks’ farm on Dec. 17, 2007.

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Wilcocks, who the OHS branch described in a separate report last week as a “journeyman electrician,” was charged with failing to ensure every exposed metal part of portable electrical equipment was supplied through a class A ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI).

Two related OHS charges against Wilcocks and three charges against his wife Donna were stayed, the province said in its release.

Four related charges against Parker’s employer, Regina-area concrete finisher Clint Farnham, were adjourned to Monday (Sept. 20), the province said last week. The outcome, if any, wasn’t yet available Monday evening.

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