Suncor provides details on worker death; CEO says recent incidents 'not acceptable'

A pedestrian is reflected in a Suncor Energy sign in this photo taken in Calgary on Feb. 1, 2010. (Jeff McIntosh/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Suncor Energy Inc. says it is committed to improving workplace safety after a truck crash earlier this month resulted in the death of a contractor at the company's Base Mine site near Fort McMurray, Alta.

Suncor has released additional details about the incident, which occurred Jan. 6. The company says one heavy haul truck rear-ended a second heavy haul truck while they were both driving up a mine haul ramp.

The two workers in the truck that was hit from behind sustained minor injuries while the driver of the other truck died.

Suncor is also reporting two other operational incidents in the last half of December that resulted in a production loss of about 195,000 barrels per day.

One of the incidents involved equipment failure at the Syncrude Mildred Lake mine site. The other incident involved furnace failures at the company's Firebag location which resulted in the temporary shutdown of approximately 170 wells.

Suncor chief executive Mark Little says all of these events are “unacceptable.” He says Suncor is committed to doing more to keep its workers safe and ensure it is consistently reliable.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 18, 2022