This teen was poisoned by carbon monoxide on the job. His parents say the employer got off easy

When Wil Krotenko got his first part time job in the meat department of the local Co-op grocery store last summer, the then 14-year-old couldn't wait to start making his own money — never imagining the job could kill him a few months later.

The teen, who lives in Canora, Sask., about 235 kilometres northeast of Regina, says he started feeling sick soon after starting his shift on Oct. 23 when his manager tasked him with cleaning enclosed areas of the meat department with a gas-powered pressure washer.

"I started feeling lightheaded and dizzy," Wil told Go Public. He says he staggered to the front of the store. "And I guess that's when I collapsed."

His condition was so serious that Wil had to be airlifted to Misericordia Community Hospital in Edmonton with severe carbon monoxide poisoning.

His mom says he spent hours in a hyperbaric chamber, used in the most serious poisoning cases, so the high levels of carbon monoxide in his blood could be replaced with oxygen.

"He was basically at death's door," said Wil's father, Kurt Krotenko. "If he would have passed out in that meat department alone with the pressure washer on … He could have been dead right there."

According to the Occupational Health and Safety report, carbon monoxide levels in the confined space where Wil was working were up to 60 times higher than what's considered safe over an eight hour period under Saskatchewan's occupational health regulations.

Despite all of that, the employer faced no consequences, aside from being told to fix the problems.

The lack of severe consequences for employers who put workers like Wil in danger is a longstanding problem in Canada, according to a workplace safety expert.

Sean Tucker, a professor of occupational health and safety at the University of Regina says that's because many provinces don't have the ability to issue hefty fines directly to workplaces that put employees in harm's way.

Instead, they can only order employers to fix violations — with no fines — or they can try to pursue large fines in court, which is costly and can take years, he said.

"We need other tools. We need administrative penalties. So for serious incidents like this where for whatever reason, there isn't going to be a prosecution, there can be a significant financial penalty," Tucker said.

There are minor fines that can be issued in some provinces without court action, called summary offence ticketing, but those don't apply in Wil's case, according to Tucker.

Co-op is a big player in the grocery store market with more than 240 locations mostly all over Western Canada, according to the organization's website.