Warnings, Risks Weren’t Communicated to AIM Saint John Workers Before Fatal Incident, Coroner’s Inquest Hears

At this point, Darrell Richards had already made one full length cut of the roll, and was about to do another.

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A coroner’s inquest examining the circumstances of a worker’s death at American Iron and Metal (AIM) in Saint John, N.B., nearly two years ago heard testimony on Monday about missed warning opportunities.

Darrell Richards died on July 1, 2022 after suffering injuries at the AIM scrapyard in Port Saint John the previous day. He was 60 years old.

Richards was attempting to remove material from a calender roll – a piece of equipment used in the production of paper – which had been sent to AIM in Saint John to be dismantled for scrap.

Richards was using a circular saw to remove a denim covering from the roll when pressure inside the solid steel core expanded and was released, causing Richards to be thrown to the ground. A piece of the denim covering struck Richards and lacerated a part of his lower body, causing severe bleeding.

 Surveillance video footage of the AIM Saint John scrapyard on June 30, 2022 was presented during the inquest’s first day, showing the incident and a cloud of debris flying above Richards’ work site.

A large portion of the inquest’s first day was spent tracking where the calender roll in question came from, and how it ended up at AIM in Port Saint John.

Michael Cyr, manager of investigations at WorkSafe NB, testified the calender roll was sent to AIM Saint John from an AIM facility in Maine.

Cyr said the Maine facility had purchased the calender roll from another scrap dealer – GWR/United – which had bought it from a U.S. division of ND Paper.

In following its origins, Cyr said safety risks about dismantling calender rolls emerged.

ND Paper sent an email on April 13, 2022 to GWR/United, asking what process would be used to dismantle the rolls.

“As we have discussed, these are highly compressed and can dangerously release like a compressed spring letting loose if not dismantled properly,” said the email from ND Paper.

Cyr said the purchaser for AIM in Maine “knew the rolls had a tendency to expand when the pressure was released from them.”

Cyr said the regional manager at Maine’s AIM facility “didn’t know the hazard associated with the rolls or how dangerous they were.”

“AIM-NB stated that AIM-Maine called them approximately one hour after the accident and explained to them how dangerous the rolls were and how they were processed at AIM Maine and what not to do,” said Cyr. “There was no attempt to communicate with the roll manufacturer.”

The AIM facility in Maine told WorkSafe NB the rolls were sent to Saint John because the stateside facility didn’t have enough staff to carry out its decommissioning.

 Justin Richards, a machinery operator at AIM Saint John and cousin to Darrell Richards, used a vehicle to pick up the calender roll and drop it “several different times” to try and break the denim covering off.

The attempts weren’t successful.

At this point, Darrell Richards had already made one full length cut of the roll, and was about to do another.

Initially when fragments of the denim were released into the air, Justin Richards thought it was a flock of birds but quickly realized it was debris by the way it fell.

“At that point, I knew it was Darrell’s work location,” said Justin Richards. “So I told the yard, ‘Has anybody got eyes on Darrell?’”

Testimony from three other workers at the AIM site in Port Saint John on June 30, 2022 reinforced the point no heightened risks were communicated to them about decommissioning calender rolls.

“Nobody was aware,” said AIM Saint John worker William McLeod, who was the first person to come to Richards’ aid after the incident.

McLeod said if Richards had been made aware of the added risk, “he wouldn’t have been anywhere near that (roll).”

The workers who testified also spoke about Darrel Richards’ commitment to safety – both his own, and other peoples.

Wesley Pratt, a production supervisor at AIM Saint John, described Richards as “somebody who was constantly on the lookout for people’s safety on that site.”

“He was the first one to tell you if you were doing something wrong, and he didn’t hold back,” said Pratt.

 Courtesy: www.atlantic.ctvnews.ca