Alberta oilsands worker dead after sustaining head injury
by The Canadian Press
37-year-old died in hospital after incident at Suncor oilsands site north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta.—A man has died after sustaining an injury while working on a giant bulldozer in Alberta’s oilsands.
The provincial government says the 37-year-old was doing maintenance work on the machine at a Suncor Inc. mine site near Fort McMurray, Alta.
The government says a reservoir or sump pan fell on the worker’s head.
The man was taken to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries.
He worked for the North American Construction Group.
The Edmonton-based company said in a statement that the man was an out-of-province employee, but did not release his name.
“We are devastated by this news and deeply saddened by the terrible and unexpected lose of our co-worker and friend,” company president Martin Ferron said.
“We will do everything within our power to provide the support they need during this extremely difficult time.”
Lauren Welsh with Alberta’s Occupational Health and Safety department said officers are at the site investigating the death.
Three other workers have died at Suncor job sites this year.
Most recently, Lorna Weafer was killed by a black bear while working at the company’s base camp.
Co-workers tried to scare the animal off the instrument technician but were unsuccessful.
In April, an electrician was killed while working near some electrical panels.
Tailings operator Jerry Cooper’s body was found submerged in a sand dump in January.
