Coroners Inquest Called into Babine Forest Products Blast
Burns Lake, B.C. There will be a Coroners inquest into the January 2012 Babine Forest Products sawmill blast which killed two workers and injured 20 others.
Robert Luggi Jr., aged 45, and Carl Charlie, aged 42, died when a massive explosion and fire engulfed the sawmill shortly after 8 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2012. Twenty other workers were injured in the blast.
Earlier this month Crown counsel announced that no criminal or regulatory charges will be approved in relation to the explosion and fire. The decision based on Crown's belief some of the evidence would not be admissible in court, making a conviction unlikely.
Chief coroner Lisa Lapointe said that after reviewing the investigations to date in the case, she has concluded there is benefit to holding an inquest to publicly examine the circumstances of the incident with the goal of preventing future deaths in similar circumstances.
An inquest is a formal process that allows for public presentation of evidence relating to a death.
During the inquest, presiding coroner Chico Newell and a jury will hear evidence from subpoenaed witnesses to determine the facts surrounding these deaths. An inquest jury may not, by law, make any findings of fault or legal responsibility; however, it will have the opportunity to make recommendations related to the evidence presented.
The date and location of the inquest have not yet been determined.
The investigation into the explosion is also under scrutiny as the Premier has called upon the Deputy Minister in charge of the BC Service to return a report to her on what changes need to be made to the investigative process.
Comments
“The investigation into the explosion is also under scrutiny as the Premier has called upon the Deputy Minister in charge of the BC Service to return a report to her on what changes need to be made to the investigative process.”
Umm… lets see… when you have BC Safety Authority investigators gathering important information and evidence in an improper manner, which results in that evidence being inadmissible in criminal and regulatory proceedings, then yeah, basic incompetence is alive and well in the BS Safety Authority!!!
You moron how many times do people on here have to tell you bc safety authority does not handle these things?? Once again using an accident like this to bash the government. Not only tasteless but not very smart!!
One can only hope you never find yourself in a position where you ever have to employ anyone, People#1.
“BC Safety Authority (BCSA) has completed its “investigation” into the April 23, 2012 explosion and fire at Lakeland Mills in Prince George BC. The investigation results are not being released at this time to avoid compromising Crown Counselâs review of a referral from WorkSafeBC. Based on findings from the two fatal mill explosions which occurred in 2012, BCSA has issued a further Safety Order to improve technical systems safety in the wood processing industry.”
http://www.safetyauthority.ca/news/lakeland-mills-investigation-report-safety-order
“The BC Safety Authority (BCSA) has issued a safety order relating to regulated electrical equipment ordering sawmills to verify that they have valid operating permits in place, that proper maintenance procedures are being carried out, and that incidents are being reported as per existing BCSA directives.
This measure is precautionary and part of the BCSAâs ongoing “investigation” into the recent explosions and resulting fires at two BC sawmills that resulted in fatalities and serious injuries to workers. This safety order supports a directive order issued last week by WorkSafeBC.
http://foresttalk.com/index.php/2012/05/08/bc-safety-authority-issues-safety-order-for-electrical-equipment-in-sawmills/
Hmm…seems to me the BS Safety Authority investigated these two mill explosions, it was their investigators that did not gather the evidence properly, which result in that evidence being inadmissible!
Hmmm… to be fair, this source indicate WorkSafeBS investigated the BFP sawmill explosion as well.
http://www.theprovince.com/news/charges+laid+deadly+Burns+Lake+sawmill+blast+fire/9373115/story.html
Meh… I would sue the BCSA as the government has setup WorksafeBS to remove government liability from itself,IMO!
Have a read here as to the investigators responsible for the crown’s evidence – from the proverbial horses mouth
http://www.worksafebc.com/news_room/news_releases/2014/new_140110.asp
BCSAâs full report was not previously released in order to avoid compromising Crown Counselâs review of WorkSafeBCâs charge referral – link below
http://www.safetyauthority.ca/news/media-releases/bc-safety-authority-releases-full-investigation-report-2012-babine-forest-produc
Another interesting read as to Babine’s next step in the process
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/bc-mill-owner-sues-toshiba-saying-motor-caused-deadly-2012-explosion/article16430254/
Two reliable sources refer to BS Safety Authority “investigating” the sawmill explosions. Might want to look in a mirror the next time you call someone a moron northman!
In case you miss the important points in the Worksafe link:
“WorkSafeBC as the investigative agency was responsible for gathering the evidence. Following our investigation Crown Counsel considered that evidence to assess whether it is sufficient to approve charges.”
“Crown has concluded that the manner with which investigators gathered some of the evidence under the authority of the Workers Compensation Act (the Act) would likely render it inadmissible in court.”
“Crown has stated there is no substantial likelihood of conviction for any of the regulatory offences recommended following the WorkSafeBC investigation of the Babine incident citing two reasons:
1 The inadmissibility of some of the evidence gathered by investigators, and
2 The defence of due diligence”
Points in the BCSA link to their recommendations report:
“BCSAâs full report was not previously released in order to avoid compromising Crown Counselâs review of WorkSafeBCâs charge referral”
“The BC Safety Authority administers the Safety Standards Act on behalf of the Province of British Columbia.”
“We conducted an extensive investigation to determine whether regulated technical equipment or (regulated) work may have contributed to the Babine incident”
“BC Safety Authority is an independent, self-funded organization mandated to oversee the safe installation and operation of technical systems and equipment. In addition to issuing permits, licenses and certificates, it works with industry to reduce safety risks through assessment, education and outreach, enforcement, and research.”
Number of Stop Work Orders Issued by WorkSafeBC, from their 2012 Annual Report:
2008- 95
2009- 77
2010- 81
2011- 65
2012- 84
Number of Stop Work Orders Issued by Newfoundland & Labrador Occupational Health and Safety, from their Inspection Activity Report 2008 – 2012
2008- 824
2009- 702
2010- 827
2011- 1,009
2012- 1,081
Kind of “pathetic” comparing the two, wonder which province cares more about worker safety than the other?
http://www.servicenl.gov.nl.ca/ohs/statistics.html
Hey gus and pal any other provinces taking worker safety more seriously than BC? Bet there are lots!!!
So… the two of them were right? Northman and the removed post?
Pulling numbers out of your nether regions proves nothing people#1. Those numbers could mean that the newfies are doing a poor job of inspections and follow up so that when they do have an onsite inspection find things in such a state they have no choice but to issue a stop work order. Could be that BC is doing a much better job because they are nipping it in the bud by regular inspections writing orders and doing proper followup.
What I see in the newfie numbers is a whole lot of small ma and pa operations who are willing to bend or break the rules in order to make a go of it. Ask any WCB inspector in this province if they get more fall arrest violations from big roofing companies or small one and two man firms
Saying they are doing a better job because 9 is a bigger number than 6 is an idiotic arguement.
Want to do a proper comparison look at things like
size and type of industry
injuries per 100k man hours
fatalities per 100k man hours
number of injuries or fatalities trending up or down.
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