Investigation Report Worker Fatality March 31, 2014

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1 Investigation Report Worker Fatality March 31, 2014 Report No- F-OHS D3 March 2015 Page 1 of 6

2 The contents of this report This document reports s (OHS ) investigation of a worker fatality in March It begins with a short summary of what happened. The rest of the report covers this same information in much greater detail. Incident summary A heavy equipment operator (operator) was not fit for duty during the night shift. The supervisor took the operator to his truck and then went to a trouble call. Later, the supervisor noticed the operator s truck lights were not on. He stopped and did not see the operator. The supervisor called for a search. After an unsuccessful search, the RCMP was called. A RCMP dog team found the operator s body approximately 100 meters away in the bush. The operator was frozen. The weather was approximately -25 o C. Background information The roadway where the incident occurred is Highway 63, a public road. Carmacks Enterprises Ltd. was the Prime Contractor for the highway twinning project. Prairie Roadbuilders Ltd. was established in 1981, and conducts civil works projects for highway, railroad, dam, airport, commercial and residential industries. It is based out of Spruce Grove. There were approximately 60 workers on the night shift, including 2 foremen, a mechanical supervisor and a safety advisor. Equipment and materials The road the incident occurred on was approximately 1.8 kilometers north of kilometer marker 96 on Highway 63. The location is approximately 140 kilometers north of Boyle, and 160 kilometers south of Fort McMurray (Figure 1). Page 2 of 6

3 N Figure 1. Star shows the approximate location where the incident occurred. Page 3 of 6

4 Sequence of events At approximately 3:00 a.m. on March 31, 2014, the night shift crew, including the operator, took their scheduled coffee break. At approximately 3:33 a.m., the operator pulled his earth mover next to the foreman s truck. The foreman called the operator on the radio approximately four times before getting a reply. The foreman noticed the operator s behavior was different from normal and asked what was wrong. The operator told the foreman that he was not good. The foreman told the operator to get into his truck and again asked him what was wrong. The operator told the foreman he had taken a pill and he had taken this kind of pill before but this one was not right. The foreman told the operator he would take him back to his truck and he could stay in his truck for the rest of the night. The foreman took the operator back to his truck, approximately 60 meters from where they were parked. The operator got out of the foreman s truck and walked to the door of his truck. The foreman then received a radio message that a piece of equipment had broken down and he was needed there. The foreman left the operator and went to check on the other equipment. The time was approximately 3:50 a.m. Approximately an hour and a half later, the foreman drove by the operator s truck and noticed the lights were off and the truck was not running. The foreman stopped and checked and noticed the operator s lunch kit, wallet and some other personal items were sitting outside the truck. The foreman (foreman 1) called the other foreman (foreman 2) on the shift and told him the operator was missing at approximately 4:45 a.m. The two foremen directed any available workers to search for the missing operator. Foreman 1 informed the superintendent about the missing operator. The superintendent directed foreman 1 to call 911, which he did. Boyle RCMP was assigned the file. The RCMP contacted foreman 1 at approximately 7:01 a.m. and arrived on site at approximately 9:30 a.m. At approximately 11:10 a.m., the RCMP found the missing operator approximately 100 meters away, 10 meters into the bush (Figure 2). The operator was frozen. Page 4 of 6

5 Figure 2. Shows the parking area near where the incident occurred. Looking from the woodline near where the operator was found. Completion A copy of the investigation report was sent to Alberta Justice for review on July 28, On July 29, 2014, Alberta Justice reviewed the case and determined the case did not support any charges under the occupational health and safety legislation. The file was closed on July 30, Page 5 of 6

6 Signatures Original Report Signed March 6, 2015 Lead Investigator Date Original Report Signed March 9, 2015 Manager Date Original Report Signed March 18, 2015 Director Date Page 6 of 6

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05724 BUTLER TWP PD /29/ :33 Sun 39:50: :11: /29/ :33 14:35 14:38 15:30 52 True 700649 3 als 05724 BUTLER TWP PD 0 0 57 Butler 0/29/207 4:33 Sun 39:50:33.6 084::29.9 39.842669 84.9444 03 MILLER LA 6500 3 0 2 0 2 Unit # was traveling northbound on Miller Lane in the northbound