43-year-old man died after being struck by equipment at Halifax Shipyard: police

The Halifax Regional Police is investigating the death of a 43-year-old man at Irving Shipbuilding.

At roughly 11:40 a.m. Monday, police responded to a report of an injury at the 3099 Barrington Street address.

“(The man) was struck by a piece of equipment and pronounced dead at the scene,” police say in a news release.

It’s early on in the investigation, and police say investigators from the Nova Scotia Department of Labour and the Integrated Criminal Investigation Division — which includes Halifax police, RCMP and civilian employees — are looking into the matter.

“A stop work order has been issued, and a review is underway of existing safe work procedures around snow removal processes, and mechanical assessment of the equipment involved,” wrote Monica MacLean, communications manager for the government of Nova Scotia, in an email to CTV News.

She said the labour department cannot release any further information because the investigation is ongoing.

In 2019, another person was injured at the Halifax Shipyard and later died. Trevor O’Neil was 40 years old when he was hit in the head by a piece of pressurized metal while servicing equipment.

The Unifor MWF Local 1 union represents more than 1,150 workers at the shipyard. In a Monday news release, Unifor said the union would work alongside the police, the department of labour and Irving Shipbuilding as the investigation continues.

“The union has trained investigators and health and safety experts who ensure proper steps are taken following a workplace injury or death,” the union wrote in the release.

Unifor says it is working to ensure Irving Shipbuilding provides full-time, on-site grief counselling services for shipyard employees “as they process this great loss.”

“The union itself can’t say anything until the investigation is complete,” said Jennifer Murray, Atlantic regional director of Unifor.

In a social media post on Monday evening, Irving Shipbuilding said the company is “cooperating fully” with the ongoing investigation and is "saddened" by the loss of one of their teammates.

With files from CTV's Bruce Frisko.

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