AIM needs to share its safety, training plans after 2 deaths, labour leader says

Just because workers at American Iron and Metal don't have a union doesn't mean the company should not be publicly accountable for two deaths at the Saint John scrap yard in seven months, a local labour leader says.

Shawn Gorman Wetmore, the president of the Saint John District Labour Council, said it's time for the metal recycling company to answer questions about worker safety — specifically about the training it provides and the health and safety plans already in place.

She said it's important this information is shared publicly, not just with WorkSafeNB, because investigations into workplace deaths can take a long time.

"I guess you don't get more accountable, until something happens that turns people's heads," she told Information Morning in the Summer.

Her call comes after the death of Darrel Richards from workplace injuries last week, the second death in seven months.

The man who died in November 2021 has still not been identified. On Tuesday, WorkSafeNB spokesperson Laragh Dooley said the death is still under investigation, but shared new details about what happened.

"The worker who was killed was a truck driver for a contractor delivering material to the site," she wrote in an email.

"Tragically, he was killed when hit by an attachment on the end of an excavator boom."

A boom is the arm of the excavator that typically has a bucket or clamp at the end of it, used for digging and moving heavy object.

In Richard's death, a press roller preparing recycling was involved, and it was shut down. The rest of the plant is still operating.

Dooley said the stop work order on the roller would be lifted once WorkSafe finds it's safe to operate all rollers.

She also said WorkSafeNB would only shut down an entire facility when there is a risk to the whole facility, and "no health and safety controls are in in place." 

Dooley said in November, no stop-work order was issued.

"WorkSafeNB did not issue a stop-work order, as the process was governed by appropriate policies that made the operation safe when followed," she said.