The construction company behind a fatal rock blast in the Callaghan Valley in June 2006 has been issued the third highest fine in WorkSafeBC history after the investigative body released a report naming the company's "gross negligence" as a factor.
Murrin Construction Ltd. of West Vancouver was issued a $216,000 fine this week in the death of 45-year-old Michael Gary Greer. "The firm committed high-risk violations knowingly or in reckless disregard of its statutory health and safety obligations," stated Paul Orr, lead investigator for WorkSafe, formerly known as the Workers' Compensation Board. The company can appeal the decision and Murrin principal Grant McInnis issued a statement yesterday (Thursday Aug. 23) stating the company would defend itself "against the charges brought forward by the Workers' Compensation Board."On June 12, 2006, Greer, a Kamloops resident, was working on the 9.7-kilometre Callaghan Valley access road to the 2010 Olympics Nordic venue when a blast unexpectedly detonated, killing him.
McInnis said the company is "extremely regretful over this tragic event" and an accident of this nature has "never happened to us in our 30 years of activity in the construction industry."
Any other comment, stated McInnis, would be "inappropriate" until the legal process is complete. A WorkSafeBC inspection reportstated Greer's death was due to gross negligence on the part of the employer, which failed to comply with regulations and failed to adopt reasonable means for the prevention of injuries.
According to the report, Greer was replacing a regular blaster and had forgotten to bring blasting equipment that was needed to detonate explosives in the rock. He opted instead to use a truck battery, and when the attempt was unsuccessful, he approached the blasting site. The truck battery was reconnected as the site foreman and a labourer were performingrepairs on the firing line, and Greer was nearby when the explosives detonated, according to the report.
The report found the repairs that the foreman and the labourer were doing on the firing line corrected a problem that then allowed the electrical current to travel to the detonator before all personnel were in a safe area.
The foreman, labourer and truck driver were within the area impacted by fly-rock but escaped unharmed.
If the proper blasting equipment had been available on the site, the incident might have been avoided, the report concluded.
In his report, Orr also said that Greer was "ineffective" as a supervisor, this despite co-workers' claims that he had many years' experience and was highly competent. But his decision to use the truck battery "demonstrate an inability to make proper judgments and were contrary to his experience," stated the report.
The report also claimed Greer may have been impaired but, the WorkSafe report's toxicology results were blacked out.
