Fatality probe underway after worker buried in sewer trench
CBC News | Posted: April 29, 2015 11:51 AM | Last Updated: April 29, 2015
'I couldn't go in. No, it was too dangerous, way too dangerous'
Alberta Occupational Health and Safety says it is beginning a fatality investigation after a man was buried under several feet of dirt and clay on a work site Tuesday evening.
The man was buried when a trench at a home construction site near 107th Avenue and 124th Street collapsed in on him.
Jeff Peers, a roofer working nearby, heard someone yelling to call 911.
"I went over to the hole just to look and I seen all the dirt falling in," he said. "Big huge chunks falling. It just kept caving in.
"I couldn't see a body or nothing. I couldn't go in. No, it was too dangerous, way too dangerous."
At 5 a.m. Wednesday, OHS spokesperson Brookes Merritt announced the 55-year-old man had died.
OHS workers remained on-scene overnight as efforts were made to free the man, who they said was working for the Bissell Centre Temporary Labour Agency.
The man had been working with a backhoe operator to dig a trench to lay sewer pipes when he was buried.
In a news release, Bissell CEO Mark Holmgren, said the agency's casual labour program did not place any workers at the job site or "to any of the companies cited by media."
He said Bissell is looking into the matter.
"We are saddened by the tragic fatality of an Edmonton labourer yesterday," he said. "Once we have more info like the man's identification, we can be more comprehensive in our review."
Merritt said OHS will be also looking into what happened on the work site prior to and during the incident, as well as investigating whether the trench work was being done safely.
"They're looking for issues of compliance with how the trench work was being done and they're going to look at whether it was being done in a healthy and safe manner."
People working at nearby businesses said there seemed to be many problems at the construction site including a lack of fencing and a watermain break.
The tragedy occurred on the National Day of Mourning, held every April 28 to remember workers who died or were injured on the job.