Widow of smelter subcontractor calls for inquiry in 2008 death

Lila Fifi says her husband David's death in 2008 should be looked at much more closely and wants the Progressive Conservative government to open an inquiry.

She believes the boilermaker and his co-workers were exposed to toxic levels of gas dust particles and that they were working in an unsafe environment without adequate protective equipment.

"[They were gassed] three times a day, for six days in a row and they did nothing," Fifi told reporters outside the Liberal Party office at the Manitoba Legislative Building Wednesday.

The Liberals have championed Fifi's cause and echo her calls for an inquiry.

"Though the incident occurred over eight years ago, critical information has only come forward in the last four weeks. I'm here to call for an inquiry into what happened to David Fifi," says River Heights MLA Jon Gerrard.

Fifi says she began to suspect conditions were not safe at the smelter work site after seeing safety concerns raised by the union her husband belonged to at the time.

"It was a harsh environment. They put those guys in a gas chamber, daily, " she says.

The 52-year-old man was working for a subcontractor, Comstock, at the Vale smelter facility in Thompson in 2008. He passed away after a shift working to upgrade exhaust stacks at the smelter.

An autopsy report found he died from a heart attack.

But his wife Lila has been digging into what happened for years and now says an investigation by Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health was woefully inadequate.

2008 investigation cleared Vale 

The WSH investigation concluded there were no safety concerns and work resumed at the smelter.

Fifi says she was denied access to some files related to her husband's death for years, but recently received documents from the investigation. They contain accounts from other workers at the site who got ill and believe they were exposed to powerful gases multiple times.

"I was working in the 204 duct line with David Fifi and we were constantly getting gassed from at least four different stacks," boilermaker Doug Bell told a WSH investigator. "This cuts right through your respirators so no matter how you try to protect yourself you can't." 

Fifi wants any samples that remain from her husband's autopsy to be tested for toxicity. She says that was never done after he died.

"My husband had an autopsy. They cut his body apart. They took samples and they didn't test [for contaminants].  You tell me why that happened?" Fifi says.

According to the testimony in the WSH report, Fifi and his co-workers were exposed to 40 major and approximately 100 minor "gas outs" over a period of of several months.

The Manitoba government provided the following background about the incident; 

"WSH immediately launched an investigation, which focused on occupational exposures. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the worker had died as a result of natural causes and relayed this decision to WSH's Chief Occupational Medical Officer, who concurred with the determination."

The government has not agreed to a inquiry, but offered a statement in response to the request.

"We extend our sympathy to the family members of Mr. Fifi and thank them for their courage in raising these concerns. The safety of workers is a top priority for the government and we take these concerns very seriously," wrote a spokesperson.

CBC News asked for comment from mining company Vale.

"All employees wore proper respiratory protection, crews employed gas monitors for the duration of the job and all procedures in place for dealing with gas were followed. The incident was fully investigated at the time and there was nothing found to connect this to a workplace exposure," wrote Vale spokesperson Cory McPhee