Health and safety charges against Westario Power, laid after one of its workers died on the job in 2010, will be spoken to in the Ontario Court of Justice in Walkerton Jan. 16.

Brodie Schwartz, 25, of Elmwood, died in Southampton hospital after the mishap on Sept. 21, 2010. He was working in a Port Elgin power substation at 584 Bruce St. at 11:55 p.m. during the mishap, a labour ministry spokesman has said.

Schwartz was a member of Local 255 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and worked as a power line technician. He was married with a young daughter.

Details of the circumstances leading to Schwartz's death have not been made public. But the Ontario Ministry of Labour laid three charges against the company.

Officials with the Ontario Electrical Safety Authority also investigated.

On Jan. 16 another court date will likely be set for this case, ministry spokesman Matt Blajer said Wednesday.

Charges were laid last July 26 against Westario Power Inc., as an employer, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, for failing to:

- Provide information, instruction and supervision to a worker to protect the health and safety of a worker. The charge alleges the company "failed to provide information to a worker regarding a single-line diagram of the Port Elgin substation; and the defendant failed to provide supervision for workers working at the Port Elgin substation."

 - Ensure all precautions reasonable for the protection of a worker were taken, namely, the company "failed to ensure that industry standards were followed for work on the Port Elgin substation," Blajer said.

- Ensure that the provisions of Sec. 42.2 of Ontario Regulation 851/90 were followed. That section stipulates in part that the worker must ensure the power supply is cut before any work is done.

The maximum penalty for a corporation under the act is $500,000. The fine is set by the court on conviction.