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Construction company fined $500K after worker killed at Saskatoon hospital build site

Eric Ndayishimiye (Facebook) Eric Ndayishimiye (Facebook)
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SASKATOON -

A Saskatoon Provincial Court judge has levied $250,000 fines on each of two Occupational Health and Safety charges against Banff Constructors Ltd. after a worker was killed on the build site of the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital.

Judge B. M. Klause agreed with the Crown in a written ruling that general deterrence is necessary and a fine would serve that goal.

"Banff is a large employer with over 400 employees and bears a high degree of responsibility for their well being on its very complicated builds," Klause said.

Eric Ndayishimiye, 21, died July 21, 2016 after a table cart toppled over and crushed his head, neck and chest.

Klause wrote that Ndayishimiye was "completely blameless" and "was simply doing what he had been instructed to do at the work site." Ndayishimiye was not involved in using the cart but was crushed when it collapsed on top of him when he was cleaning up in the general area.

Banff's mistake was to transfer the table carts from another site in Alberta without also transferring any of the crew who had worked on them, according to Klause.

"The carts are of relatively simple manufacture and simple in appearance but they are designed to carry relatively heavy structural loads on a smooth surface. They were deceptive in that regard and there was no one on hand in Saskatoon who was trained in in either their set up or operation.

"Additionally, they were modified to be raised higher without the consent or knowledge of the manufacturer and with little or no thought as to how that might change the dynamics of their operation. In my opinion, this was a fatal mistake and led to the ultimate collapse of the cart which killed Eric. It is in the nature of an act of omission as opposed to commission."

Klause noted some mitigating factors in the decision. Banff's life insurance policy paid $200,000 to Ndayishimiye's family, while Graham and Jar-Dig paid the family an additional $150,000 for compassionate reasons, covered the cost of the funeral and have been in contact with Ndayishimiye's family.

"In my view this provides both a significant and unusual amount of mitigation in favour of the defendant. Very few corporate defendants have both the inclination or financial resources to accomplish this. This was a greatly mitigating factor."

It was also mitigating that the table carts were removed from service immediately and haven't been used since.

Banff has had no previous convictions, according to the ruling.

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