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W orkers in Calgary advocate for safety reform after man dies in trench collapse
By
P aula Tran
Global News
Posted June 12, 2023 9:50 pm
WATCH: The family and friends of Liam Johnson are demanding answers and changes following his death. Johnson died after a trench collapsed while he was repairing a sewer line. Craig Momney reports.
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Workers in
Calgary are advocating for workplace safety reforms after a man died in a trench collapse on Thursday.
Carol Henke, fire department spokesperson, confirmed to Global News that emergency crews were called to the 2600 block of 34th Avenue N.W., in the community of Charleswood, at around 10:45 a.m. Thursday for reports a trench had collapsed.
The battalion chief said that there was no trench box in place initially, so crews had to place one before they could safely enter the trench.
Liam Johnston, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. Johnston was working for Mr. Mike’s Plumbing at the time of the incident.
Jon Malley, a former apprentice plumber with Mr. Mike’s, told Global News he requested a trench box from management last March.
“I had a meeting with the management and I told them it’s a matter of time before somebody gets killed,” Malley said.
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“I knew Liam. We became apprentices together. He was a stand-up guy. ”
In an earlier statement, the company said safety is its top priority and said it’s working with authorities to understand the circumstances of the incident to ensure the appropriate measures are taken to prevent any future incidents.
Pete Archdekin, owner of Pete The Plumber, said the incident was tragic and should have never happened.
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He told Global News the government of Alberta’s occupational health and safety manual protects people working in holes and tunnels.
Workers also have to take certified courses on how to safely work in tight spaces, he said.
“If that was followed, anybody can go down the hole. You can go down the hole if it’s properly shored, if the proper excavations done, if proper safety things were followed,” Archdekin said.
Archedekin added these incidents are very rare, and deaths usually happen if there was a gas valve problem or if there were high carbon monoxide levels.
“That young man should have been in that hole to do his job. You got to get to the pipe. The pipe is where it is right here. There’s no magic way to get down there,” he said.
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“You hear very few excavation problems on residential projects. Very, very few.”
Rob Stewart, a safety scientist, said people have known to prevent tragic incidents like trench collapses for decades.
It is physically impossible for the trench to collapse onto somebody if the proper safety procedures and regulations were followed, Stewart said.
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“The unfortunate thing is we have all these really good regulations and a lot of them aren’t followed. I think in Alberta, 50 per cent of employers aren’t following basic safety regulations and it usually goes well until it doesn’t,” Stewart told Global News.
“We don’t have very much of a deterrent effect to prevent it from happening again in the future.”
Stewart said a lot of people are afraid to speak up about unsafe working conditions because they might lose their jobs. The Alberta government needs to be stricter with the enforcement of fines and punishments for unsafe working conditions so it will deter companies from doing so.
“You can have the best laws out there, but if there’s no enforcement there is no reasonable likelihood of being caught if the fines aren’t sufficient to change behaviours,” he said.
But this problem isn’t an Alberta problem. Stewart said a lot of people are killed in trenches every year across North America.
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“There has to be a behaviour change overall. It has to come from the employers themselves. You can’t expect workers to institute their right to refuse work. That’s not the way that happens,” he said.
“We know from basic human psychology that they will basically go along with the crowd, or if their boss says to do something they will follow through on it because they want to keep their job.
“We need the same sort of consequences, life-altering consequences generally through the Criminal Code that we put on to workers. In this case, we need to put people in jail.”
— with files from Ryan White, Global News.
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W orkers in Calgary advocate for safety reform after man dies in trench collapse
By
P aula Tran
Global News
Posted June 12, 2023 9:50 pm
WATCH: The family and friends of Liam Johnson are demanding answers and changes following his death. Johnson died after a trench collapsed while he was repairing a sewer line. Craig Momney reports.
LEAVE A COMMENT
S HARE THIS ITEM ON FACEBOOK
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Workers in
Calgary are advocating for workplace safety reforms after a man died in a trench collapse on Thursday.
Carol Henke, fire department spokesperson, confirmed to Global News that emergency crews were called to the 2600 block of 34th Avenue N.W., in the community of Charleswood, at around 10:45 a.m. Thursday for reports a trench had collapsed.
The battalion chief said that there was no trench box in place initially, so crews had to place one before they could safely enter the trench.
Liam Johnston, 27, was pronounced dead at the scene. Johnston was working for Mr. Mike’s Plumbing at the time of the incident.
Jon Malley, a former apprentice plumber with Mr. Mike’s, told Global News he requested a trench box from management last March.
“I had a meeting with the management and I told them it’s a matter of time before somebody gets killed,” Malley said.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT
“I knew Liam. We became apprentices together. He was a stand-up guy. ”
In an earlier statement, the company said safety is its top priority and said it’s working with authorities to understand the circumstances of the incident to ensure the appropriate measures are taken to prevent any future incidents.
Pete Archdekin, owner of Pete The Plumber, said the incident was tragic and should have never happened.
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He told Global News the government of Alberta’s occupational health and safety manual protects people working in holes and tunnels.
Workers also have to take certified courses on how to safely work in tight spaces, he said.
“If that was followed, anybody can go down the hole. You can go down the hole if it’s properly shored, if the proper excavations done, if proper safety things were followed,” Archdekin said.
Archedekin added these incidents are very rare, and deaths usually happen if there was a gas valve problem or if there were high carbon monoxide levels.
“That young man should have been in that hole to do his job. You got to get to the pipe. The pipe is where it is right here. There’s no magic way to get down there,” he said.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT
“You hear very few excavation problems on residential projects. Very, very few.”
Rob Stewart, a safety scientist, said people have known to prevent tragic incidents like trench collapses for decades.
It is physically impossible for the trench to collapse onto somebody if the proper safety procedures and regulations were followed, Stewart said.
Trending Now
Reddit blackout: What’s behind the coordinated protest?
W hy is Canada seizing a Russian cargo plane? Here’s what to know
“The unfortunate thing is we have all these really good regulations and a lot of them aren’t followed. I think in Alberta, 50 per cent of employers aren’t following basic safety regulations and it usually goes well until it doesn’t,” Stewart told Global News.
“We don’t have very much of a deterrent effect to prevent it from happening again in the future.”
Stewart said a lot of people are afraid to speak up about unsafe working conditions because they might lose their jobs. The Alberta government needs to be stricter with the enforcement of fines and punishments for unsafe working conditions so it will deter companies from doing so.
“You can have the best laws out there, but if there’s no enforcement there is no reasonable likelihood of being caught if the fines aren’t sufficient to change behaviours,” he said.
But this problem isn’t an Alberta problem. Stewart said a lot of people are killed in trenches every year across North America.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW ADVERTISEMENT
“There has to be a behaviour change overall. It has to come from the employers themselves. You can’t expect workers to institute their right to refuse work. That’s not the way that happens,” he said.
“We know from basic human psychology that they will basically go along with the crowd, or if their boss says to do something they will follow through on it because they want to keep their job.
“We need the same sort of consequences, life-altering consequences generally through the Criminal Code that we put on to workers. In this case, we need to put people in jail.”
— with files from Ryan White, Global News.
CALGARY
WORKER'S RIGHTS
TRENCH COLLAPSE
CALGARY TRENCH COLLAPSE
CLICK TO SEE MORE TAGS
+3
JOURNALISTIC STANDARDS
COMMENTS
REPORT AN ERROR
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Sponsored content
More to Explore
WHAT IS OUTBRAIN
Breast Cancer Treatment Cost in
Mexico Might be Cheaper Than You...
Sponsored | Search Ads
Discov er the Best Mexico Vacation Deals for 2023
Mexic o Vacation | Search Ads
SPON SORED | MEXICO VACATION
Chir opractic Treatment Cost in Mexico: Might Cheaper Than You Think.
SPO NSORED | SEARCH ADS
7 Signs of hearing loss: If you have any of them, there's a solution! Learn more here
S PONSORED |
HEAR.COM
Stay in the loop
Get a roundup of the most important and intriguing national stories delivered to your inbox every weekday.
SIGN UP FOR NATIONAL NEWSLETTER
SIGN UP
Top Videos
‘A miracle of God’: Children found alive in Amazon jungle 40 days after plane crash
223
VIEWED
1 dead, multiple people rescued after boat capsizes during Lockport,
N.Y. cave tour
214
VIEWED
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski found dead in prison cell
210
VIEWED
F reeland reassures Canadians economy will be OK amid Bank of Canada’s latest interest hike
1 82
V IEWED
‘A huge surprise’: Nick Taylor’s triumphant putt makes him first Canadian in 69 years to win Canadian Open
11 8
VI EWED
MO RE VIDEOS
Glo bal News Facebook Pages
Glo bal News Twitter Accounts
Glo bal News Youtube Channel
Glo bal News on Instagram
Glo bal News on LinkedIn
Glo bal News on TikTok
Glo bal News on Telegram
Abo ut
Pr inciples & Practices
B randed Content
Contact us
RSS
Newsletters
Notifications
Smart home
Advertisers Election Registry
Global News Licensing Requests
©2023 GLOBAL NEWS, A DIVISION OF CORUS ENTERTAINMENT INC. CORUS NEWS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PRIVACY POLICY
COPYRIGHT
TERMS OF USE
ADVERTISE
ADVERTISING STANDARDS TERMS
CORUS ENTERTAINMENT
ACCESSIBILITY
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