[MSN] Reynolds Museum charged in teen's death. Didn't have permit or written parental consent, but was working with his father at time of accident.

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Reynolds Museum charged in teen's death
Didn't have permit or written parental consent, but was working with his
father at time of accident
  
Sarah O'Donnell 
The Edmonton Journal 


Friday, July 14, 2006


EDMONTON - The province has taken the rare step of charging a Wetaskiwin
business for violating Alberta's employment standards one year after a
14-year-old died of injuries from sandblasting on the job.

The teen, Erik Dyment, died on July 15, 2005, after a metal truck box he was
sandblasting at the Reynolds Museum Ltd. fell on him.

The 14-year-old was a museum employee who provincial officials say should
never have been allowed to do that kind of work.

"This is a terrible tragedy that definitely could have been prevented,"
Alberta Human Resources and Employment spokeswoman Sarah Doyle said.

"It's very important that the public know that sandblasting is not an
approved occupation for adolescents and the government would not have issued
a permit for a 14-year-old to do this kind of work, had they applied for a
permit -- which they didn't."

The Reynolds Museum is a private business that is owned and operated by
Stanley George Reynolds. It is home to hundreds of vintage cars, trucks,
fire trucks and other machines.

It is different from the Reynolds-Alberta Museum, a provincially run
transportation museum also located in Wetaskiwin that was named in Stanley
Reynold's honour. He donated more than 1,500 vintage pieces of equipment to
the facility.

The Reynolds Museum and Reynolds, as its corporate director, were charged
this week under the Employment Standards Code and Regulation.

Reynolds Museum shop foreman Bruce Olson said Thursday that the business
could offer no comment until consulting with lawyers.

In the days immediately after Erik's death, however, Reynolds told a Journal
reporter that it was "the most terrible catastrophe that has ever happened
in my years in business."

According to Doyle, Erik started working at the business part-time in the
summer of 2003. Initially, he was doing tasks such as gardening.

His father, Doug Dyment, was the museum's chief mechanic. It was reported in
the days after Erik's death that he was working in the mechanic shop with
his father, who was his direct supervisor, when the truck box fell on him.

Investigators found, however, that nobody witnessed the incident that caused
the fatal injuries.

Alberta HRE's employment standards branch typically views prosecutions as a
last resort. Only one other charge has been laid under the code since 2003.

The employment standards code lays out the minimum rules that businesses
must follow in areas such as wages, hours of work and the type of work that
teenagers can do.

While Albertans under the age of 15 are allowed to work in retail stores and
some restaurant jobs, businesses must apply for a special permit if they
want to employ children in other roles. They also must have written consent
from the young worker's parent or guardian.

"This type of occupation obviously is not allowed by law for adolescents,"
Doyle said of sandblasting. "The reason something of this nature would never
be approved was for the precise reason that it's working near dangerous
equipment."

The museum is charged with employing someone under the age of 15 without the
written consent of his parent, guardian or the approval of the director of
employment standards. It also is charged with having an adolescent work in
an environment that could be injurious to his life, health, education or
welfare.

Stanley George Reynolds, the museum's corporate director, faces the same two
charges.

If convicted, the museum faces up to $200,000 in fines. Stanley Reynolds
faces a maximum fine of $100,000.

Further charges could be laid under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety
act. An investigation by that department is ongoing, Doyle said.

Company officials are scheduled to appear in Wetaskiwin provincial court on
Aug. 31.

No one from the boy's family could be reached for comment Thursday.

Doyle says the government hopes Alberta employers will learn from this that
there are rules that protect teens in the workplace. "You need to ask the
questions and find out what's allowed before you employ them."

sodonnell at thejournal.canwest.com

VIOLATIONS

Businesses are rarely charged in Alberta for violating the province's
employment standards. Here's how many employers have been charged in recent
years:

2000: Three

2001: Four

2002: None

2003: One

2004: None

2005: None

2006: Charges against Reynolds Museum and Stanley George Reynolds are the
first.

Source: Alberta Human Resources and Employment

Ran with fact box "Violations", which has been appended to this story.

C The Edmonton Journal 2006