Fatality inquiry hears COP staff rode down track on shovels in past
CBC News | Posted: April 10, 2018 7:55 PM | Last Updated: April 11, 2018
Track manager says he wasn't aware of public or staff incidents happening under his watch
Sneaky slides down WinSport's luge and bobsled tracks had been going on long before the night eight teens broke into the grounds after hours to ride plastic toboggans down the icy curves — an adventure that cost twin brothers their lives and left others with serious injuries.
At a fatality inquiry into the 2016 incident, Tyler Seitz, the senior manager of track and building operations, said he was aware of incidents in the '80s and '90s when staff rode down the track using shovels.
Before working at Canada Olympic Park, Seitz said he was a track athlete who regularly used the track, but he himself never participated in the shovel-riding incidents.
As manager, he said he stressed to his staff the dangers of improper use of the track.
"I was concerned about my staff riding a shovel down the track and I would mention it several times a year, saying it's not safe, it's not acceptable, it's not tolerated," he said.
Seitz said he wasn't aware of any staff or public incidents happening under his watch.
Extra gates, fences added
The inquiry into the February 2016 deaths of Evan and Jordan Caldwell entered its second day on Tuesday. The parents of the teens told CBC News earlier in the week they hoped the inquiry would result in security and safety changes around the track.
Seitz said that since the incident, WinSport has taken steps to improve security at the site, adding extra fences and gates at all access points.
Procedures were also created to monitor start houses and make sure they were open only one hour prior to sessions and closed immediately after.
The role of the judge in a fatality inquiry is not to assign legal blame but to make recommendations to help prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Touring the crash scene
The inquiry went from the courtroom to the crash scene Tuesday afternoon. Winsport's chief operating officer John Sutherland gave a tour of Canada Olympic Park, with a specific focus around the bobsled track, to the judge and counsel overseeing the inquiry, as well as the media.
Sutherland pointed out the new, secure metal fence that surrounds the start area at the top of the bobsled track. That's where the group of teens gained access to the track that night in February 2016.
He says the fence is kept locked at night. And there is similar fencing around all of the tracks' access points.
The judge also wanted to see where the luge and bobsled tracks merge and the movable, metal barrier that separates them. The teens struck the metal barrier as they travelled at high speeds down the track. It had been put in place in preparation for luge events that weekend.
Afterward, Judge Margaret Keelaghan said, "This is very helpful," before adjourning court in front of the day lodge at COP.
Tomorrow a surviving teenager is expected to testify. The inquiry is expected to wrap up on Thursday.
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