Jury has recommendations for WorkSafeNB at inquest into death of Fredericton carpenter
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The inquest into the death of a Red Seal carpenter at a Fredericton building site wrapped up on Tuesday with a number of recommendations, all aimed at more oversight from WorkSafeNB.
Preston Allen, 34, fell 8.5 metres from scaffolding on Dec. 6, 2021, while working on new house construction on Brighton Court in the city's Skyline Acres neighbourhood.
Allen was a married father of a young son, Benson, who was five years old at the time of his father's death.
According to his obituary, Allen graduated with distinction from the carpentry program at NBCC and was hired by the Colpitts company, where he later received his Red Seal status.
After six years, "with a desire to broaden his horizons, in the spring of 2021 Preston relocated to New View Designs, construction unit," the obituary said.
Laurie Cole, owner of New View Design, testified on the second day of the inquest.
Back in July, her company was fined $25,000 under the Occupational Health and Safety Act on charges stemming from Allen's fall.
The company pleaded guilty to failing to provide instruction necessary to ensure an employee's health and safety. The judge also ordered a $5,000 victim surcharge.
On Tuesday, Cole testified that in October 2021, two months before the accident, her project manager left and she was trying to find a replacement.
"There is a lot of turnover and it's very challenging," Cole said.
Allen had previously worked for a large company as a site supervisor, she said, and she brought him on board in April 2021, saying she was "very impressed with him."
She appointed him the lead carpenter for the house under construction at 19 Brighton Court.
"He was a shining star, had a great way about him, very respectful, enthusiastic, had a lot of great skills — he was a leader."
Cole said the company would typically use a lift to put up siding on a new house under construction but because of the steepness of the lot, they couldn't, "so this was really the first time [Allen] had to use staging."
She said she was nervous about the height of the staging and that she said "on several occasions don't take any chances."
The jury heard how conditions the day Allen fell were a mix of snow, rain and ice pellets. The other employees chose to work inside. They handed materials to Allen through the opening in the wall and every ten minutes they would sweep the planks and add salt.
Patrick McMahon told the jury on Monday he had just handed Allen more material and turned to walk downstairs when he heard him yell out. He rushed to the opening to see Allen on the ground.
McMahon and other coworkers sprinted outside and called 911, staying with him until the paramedics arrived.
Regional coroner Sarah Barnett said Allen's heart rate dropped significantly at the hospital and multiple rounds of CPR were conducted to revive him. He was pronounced dead at 2:33 p.m. on Dec. 6, 2021.
Michel Cyr, manager of investigations at WorkSafe New Brunswick, testified there was no competent supervisor at the work site.
"No one really had knowledge of health and safety [and there were] no procedures in place."
He said a knowledgeable supervisor would know about heights, guard rails, and when to tie off. Guidelines regarding fall protection usually come into effect for heights over three metres, he said.
Cyr said the scaffolding revealed several deficiencies. It wasn't properly attached to the house, was missing guardrails, and there was some additional cross-bracing that had not been installed.
He said the employer has to provide supervision and an adequate risk assessment. One of the employees at New View Design asked the company for a risk assessment for 19 Brighton Court, just days before the accident. Cole told the inquest that they were working on it.
At the end of the day, the five-person inquest jury released the following six recommendations, saying WorkSafeNB should:
Proactively educate new and existing companies/employers by offering resources and consulting services before accidents occur.
Ensure that there are [an] adequate number of qualified WorkSafe inspectors dedicated to construction.
Use existing and available building permit data to determine appropriate work sites for inspection.
Gain access to existing and available building permit data or equivalent.
Perform a minimum monthly number of random or unannounced site inspections.
Establish a relationship with the provincial and/or regional construction safety associations to effectively communicate to employers and employees easily accessible online education on the basics of erecting and using scaffolding.
Safety measures taken
Cole said WorkSafeNB put them in touch with someone to revamp their safety procedures following the accident. An orientation package now goes out to each employee and they go through it page by page.
The company also uses a supervisor assessment tool for each new supervisor to assess their knowledge. Cole said their new foreman is responsible for safety.
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Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Highway tragedies signal urgent need for truck driver training standards, industry professionalization
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He envisions an alternative, one where truck driving is a nationally designated trade — 'it'd do great things for our industry' —but training is tailored to the sector's reality. Such a move would help legitimize on-the-job training and produce safer drivers, he says, although cautioning many companies currently can't afford to spend much time mentoring new hires. If a national standard is created, he adds, it's crucial to 'harmonize up.' 'If one province has a lower standard, guess what happens? That's where those seeking a lower standard go to get their Class 1 licence,' he says. 'The lowest common denominator… typically dictates the state of our industry.' 'If one province has a lower standard, guess what happens? That's where those seeking a lower standard go to get their Class 1 licence.'–Aaron Dolyniuk Still, some Manitoba companies have extensive onboarding processes. Bison Transport has a phased program including 11 weeks of in-cab instruction, local runs for two months and restrictions on assignments for two years. Payne Transportation puts its drivers through internationally recognized Smith System Driver Improvement Institute courses and rewards those acting safely on the road. It uses artificial intelligence-equipped cameras in trucks to monitor driving. The provincial government, MPI and industry stakeholders are part of a joint steering committee the Manitoba Trucking Association co-chairs. The group was struck to study recruitment, training and retention of truck drivers. A 2023 report, commissioned by the MTA for the committee, found the retention rate of long-haul truckers sponsored for training was 'significantly' lower than other trades. The province would not make a minister available for comment, and instead issued a general statement saying it is committed to evaluating driver training and curriculum standards, improving testing and job retention, and is open to considering alternative training models. TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN FILES A semi-trailer passes by a memorial on the TransCanada Highway near the intersection with Highway 5, where 17 seniors were killed in 2023 in one of Canada's worst mass highway casualty crashes. TIM SMITH / BRANDON SUN FILES Currently, Quebec is viewed as Canada's gold standard of truck-driver training. It offers subsidized programs allowing for 24 months of experience before a full Class 1 designation is received. During that time, the driver has a Class 1 learner's licence. Alan Warrington has trained hundreds of truckers at Alan's Driving School, a Portage la Prairie academy. Retirement is on his horizon. While he says MELT is an adequate program, he believes trucking 'certainly should be' a Red Seal profession, but with more focus on road training and less on classroom theory. Students often come from farms and Hutterite colonies. Some can't read or write well, but they can drive perfectly, Warrington says, adding success comes from teaching to learners' capabilities. Managers at Big Freight Systems and Payne Transportation and drivers interviewed at a Headingley truck stop expressed support for a national program. 'I think the profession would be taken a lot more seriously,' said Scott Warkentine, Big Freight Systems' director of safety and driver services. 'I think people that are in the profession or want to get into it … it would set a higher standard.' Improved safety would follow, he says, though the cost of putting a driver through a Red Seal or similar program could be a challenge for some. Employers would need to be willing to pay more for staff, cautions Thomas McKee, Payne Transportation's vice-president of driver services and innovation. 'Red Seal would be such a blessing,' he says, noting it could protect truckers from low wages. 'It would just elevate the whole industry.' Trucker Sandeep Dhaliwal went through the MELT program several years ago. Improving training may improve driver skill, but it could also detract people from entering the profession, he says, and also might force out established drivers if they have to go back to school. 'There are a lot of untrained and unskilled people driving semi-trucks, which they should not be doing,' he says. 'It's a hard career. It's not an easy job.' The onus shouldn't just be placed on training schools. Sometimes there's a lack of willingness to learn and a 'disregard for others' safety' on the driver's part, he says, noting he has also encountered unsafe truckers on the highways. 'Every day, you run into good ones and bad ones,' Dhaliwal says. 'I don't know. I try to do the job honestly.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Gabrielle PichéReporter Gabrielle Piché reports on business for the Free Press. She interned at the Free Press and worked for its sister outlet, Canstar Community News, before entering the business beat in 2021. Read more about Gabrielle. Every piece of reporting Gabrielle produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Freeing up trade and keeping workers safe
Opinion Over the last few months, we have heard a lot about the need to remove so-called interprovincial trade barriers, driven by political responses to the impacts of Donald Trump's trade threats and tariffs on the Canadian economy. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said he wants interprovincial trade barriers taken down by Canada Day. Here in Manitoba, the NDP government recently passed Bill 47, legislation that the government claims will free up interprovincial trade. While interprovincial trade barriers are clearly something that politicians of all political stripes are currently focused on, the actual evidence of barriers that exist is a bit murkier. When I talk with my business counterparts, I find they are often hard pressed to name many examples of specific interprovincial trade barriers that are interfering with trade between provinces. About a month ago, I had the opportunity to discuss the topic of interprovincial trade barriers with Loren Remillard, president and CEO of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, on a local radio station. The only example of an interprovincial trade barrier that he offered was that each province has individual rules for fall protection. We have all heard the lofty claims that removing interprovincial trade barriers will unleash billions in economic activity. But I fail to see how taking away a province's ability to set strong protections to keep workers from falling from roofs will unleash billions of dollars in economic activity. Removing interprovincial trade barriers should not be used as code for things that are not barriers at all, but important protections that keep workers safe — like setting high workplace health and safety standards. A healthy workforce is a more productive workforce, and governments should be doing all they can to keep workers safe and healthy on the job. Here in Manitoba, workers continue to suffer over 25,000 workplace-related injuries a year, demonstrating that there is a lot more work to do on workplace health and safety. When it comes to having common standards across the country, we should be striving to have the best standards, not the lowest. For example, look at Red Seal certification, something that unions have been major supporters of through training and apprenticeship programs. When someone is Red Seal certified, you know they are well trained, and you can trust the work they do. For trades workers, that Red Seal is a ticket to a good paying, family-supporting job, and it is recognized throughout our country, meaning you can work anywhere in Canada. Having Red Seal certification demonstrates that a worker has completed the highest standards of training. And the highest standards are something that we should all aspire to when it comes to our economy and our workforce. Our province's interprovincial trade legislation will enable Manitoba to identify jurisdictions in Canada as reciprocating jurisdictions, in effect treating that jurisdiction's standards as equal to Manitoba's when it comes to the sale of goods and services. It closely copies legislation that Ontario and Nova Scotia have introduced on the subject, and Premier Wab Kinew also signed an interprovincial trade MOU with Ontario a few weeks ago. But other recent action by Ontario Premier Doug Ford's government should give us pause on going full steam ahead with treating it as a reciprocating jurisdiction, no questions asked. Premier Ford is currently fast-tracking a controversial law to allow cabinet to identify 'special economic zones,' which could exempt any company or project in the zone from having to comply with whichever provincial laws, provincial regulations or municipal bylaws the government chooses. This would open the door for the Ontario government to declare that such things as Ontario's minimum wage rules or its environmental protections no longer apply within the designated zone, an extreme measure that exists nowhere else in Canada. As is often the case with vague notions like interprovincial trade barriers, the devil will be in the details of the Manitoba NDP government's interprovincial trade plans. And these details will only be addressed when the government makes untold numbers of regulatory changes now that Bill 47 has become law. But Manitoba's unions will do all that we can to ensure that Manitoba strikes the right balance regarding common sense trade reforms and the best interests of Manitoba workers. Kevin Rebeck is the president of the Manitoba Federation of Labour.
CTV News
30-05-2025
- CTV News
Mechanic struck by cement truck in Moncton has died; WorkSafeNB investigating
Emergency services are pictured beside a cement truck that struck a pedestrian in Moncton, N.B., on May 29, 2025. (Wade Perry) A mechanic who was struck by a cement truck in Moncton, N.B., Thursday afternoon has died from his injuries. Emergency crews were called to the scene near Edinburgh and English drives around 2:50 p.m. The man sustained life-threatening injuries and died in hospital. A relative told CTV News the cement truck rolled over the man, who worked for the company that owns the truck. They said the 39-year-old was a father of two. WorkSafeNB confirmed the victim worked for Casey Concrete Ltd. and it is investigating the incident as a workplace fatality. 'We offer our deepest condolences to the worker's family, as well as their friends and colleagues,' said Lynn Meahan-Carson, manager of corporate communications for WorkSafeNB. 'As the investigation is ongoing, we cannot release any further information at this time.' No one else was injured. For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
