Warnings and risks weren’t communicated to AIM Saint John workers before fatal incident, coroner’s inquest hears

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.

Origins of calender roll

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.

Warnings, risks not communicated to workers

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.

Emergency response

The incident on June 30, 2022 happened at approximately 1:25 p.m.

Saint John Police Force Cst. Jennifer Bergeron said she was nearby when she received a report on her radio of an industrial accident at AIM at 1:32 p.m.

Cst. Burgeron said Richards was conscious when she arrived at 1:36 p.m., and he was talking.

“He had humour,” said Burgeron.

Ambulance NB paramedic Norma Hicks responded to the emergency, and testified there was nobody at the front gates of AIM in Port Saint John to direct first responders to Richards’ location within the scrap yard site.

Hicks said the lack of direction added “just a few seconds” to their response, with paramedics ultimately finding the location by seeing flashing lights from a police vehicle.

While being transported by ambulance to the Saint John Regional Hospital, Richards lost vitals and CPR was administered. At the hospital, Richards was rushed into emergency surgery.

Richards was pronounced dead the next day at 2:05 a.m.

Fred Ferron, a community coroner with the Department of Public Safety, said Richards had lost about 60-to-70 per cent of his blood from his injury.

Ferron said the cause of death was determined to be hypovolemic shock (a large loss of blood causing organ failure) with the manner of death deemed accidental.

Coroner’s inquest follows court case

The coroner’s inquest is scheduled to run until Friday at the Saint John Law Courts.

Deputy chief coroner Michael Johnston and a jury will hear evidence from witnesses, and at the inquest’s conclusion will have the opportunity to make preventative recommendations for similar circumstances.

A lawyer for American Iron and Metal is attending the inquest, and also has the opportunity to forward questions.

In February, AIM entered a guilty plea to one charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection to Richards’ death. As part of the company’s sentence, AIM was ordered to create a $107,000 scholarship at the New Brunswick Community College.

Last year, the New Brunswick government revoked AIM’s salvage dealer’s licence for its Saint John scrapyard following a massive multi-day fire that began Sept. 15, 2023.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.