AIM pleads guilty in 2022 Saint John scrapyard death of Darrell Richards
Company also pleads guilty to unrelated safety charge at Point Lepreau in 2021
American Iron and Metal has pleaded guilty in connection with the death of a worker at its Saint John scrapyard in 2022, and to an unrelated safety charge stemming from an incident at the Point Lepreau nuclear plant in 2021.
The company was scheduled to go to trial on both charges in March, but during a pre-trial conference in Saint John Friday, Crown prosecutor Wes McIntosh advised provincial court Judge Claude Haché the parties had reached an agreement.
AIM was facing four charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the death of Darrell Richards, 60.
Richards, a married father of three, died in hospital on July 1, 2022, after being injured at the west side scrapyard the day before while cutting into a calender roll with a circular saw.
Calender rolls are used in paper production, said McIntosh. They're constructed of a metal shaft covered with approximately 250,000 sheets of cotton denim. The sheets are locked in place and under 2,600 tons of pressure. The rolls are 33 inches in diameter and weigh tens of thousands of pounds, he said.
When Richards straddled the calender roll and cut into it to strip the material from the metal shaft, "approximately 37,050 pounds of material under at least 1,500 tons of pressure released with enough force to send pieces of material several feet in the air and disperse across the job site," said McIntosh.
The release caused a deep laceration to Richards's groin area, severing his femoral artery and causing severe blood loss.
Employees responded quickly and provided first aid and emergency crews arrived soon after, but Richards succumbed to his injuries at 2:05 a.m., said McIntosh, as several of the roughly 20 relatives and friends who filled the front rows of the courtroom cried quietly.
The calender roll came from an AIM facility in Maine, which was "aware of the hazards associated with dismantling calender rolls and had developed their own procedures," including using a cutting torch, using a demolition shear excavator attachment, and setting a 70 foot-safety zone, excluding anyone not actively involved in commissioning the roll, according to McIntosh.
"AIM N.B. had no experience dismantling calender rolls and were unaware of the danger associated with them," he said.
AIM changed its plea to guilty on one count — failing to take every reasonable precaution to ensure the health and safety of Richards by failing to provide him with information on the hazards of a calender roll.
The Crown plans to withdraw the other three charges at sentencing, McIntosh said. These include failing to properly protect and train Richards, and failing to make sure work was overseen by trained supervisors.
"We're very glad that today has come, that it is finally over, that AIM has taken accountability and that they did not make it go to trial," Richards's daughter-in-law Kelsey Bailey told CBC outside the courthouse.
"Of course nothing can bring Darrell back, but we are glad to have some type of closure."
AIM failed to keep him safe so he could come home to me. I pray this never happens to another family.- Bessie Collins, widow
Bailey read an impact statement aloud in court on behalf of Richards's wife of 43 years, Bessie Collins, who has cancer.
"No words that I can speak can equal all the pain, loss and suffering I have felt in his 582 days since his death," wrote Collins.
"Darrell and I had finally gotten to the time of our lives where we would start and enjoy everything we had worked so hard to build together," such as his Harley and their camp, their "little slice of heaven."
He "worked damn hard" and "should be hunting and fishing or playing golf," wrote Collins.
Instead, he has been "ripped away."
"AIM failed to keep him safe so he could come home to me. I pray this never happens to another family."
Richards's aunt Irene Owens said he was always Collins' anchor when hard times came and she wished he could be here for her now.
"He truly was the other half of her. He once told me nothing would ever make him leave her. His death was the only thing he didn't see coming," she said.
Owens described Richards as someone who always had a big smile and a hug for everyone, and "always left you feeling better about yourself."
"I'm quite sure he never met a stranger, just a friend waiting to happen," she said.
Richards's sister, Vanessa Richards-Stone, said he was a remarkable person — caring, compassionate and a "pillar of strength" for the whole family.
"His memory will forever be cherished and his absence will forever be felt."
He had an innate capacity to make others feel valued and understood, an uncanny ability to find joy in even the most simple things, and a knack for diffusing tense situations with a well-timed joke, said Richards-Stone.
"Safety was always paramount to Darrell, and he approached every aspect of his life with the highest regard for it … Whether it was following safety guidelines at work or simply reminding loved ones to take care of themselves, Darrell was relentless in his commitment to safeguarding those he cared about and worked with," she told the court.
Outside court, Bailey agreed. "He was the epitome of safety. I couldn't even mow my lawn without wearing safety goggles. If he was around me, he would say, 'Where's your safety goggles? Get those on, girl.'"
Truck burned to the ground
AIM also changed its plea to guilty of failing to keep unqualified employees from working closer than 3.6 metres to a powered utility line in Maces Bay on Dec. 3, 2021.
An AIM truck driver steered the boom, or extendable arm, into high-voltage power lines while lifting a can containing scrap metal onto the truck, said McIntosh, reading from an agreed statement of facts.
No one was injured, "but they could have been," he said. The vehicle burned to the ground, the line was damaged and power was knocked out for about three hours.
AIM did not have a code of practice or procedure at the time for work being done in close proximity to electrical utility lines, the court heard.
Bursary proposed instead of fine or jail time
The workplace fatal charge carries a maximum fine of $250,000, up to six months in jail, or both, while the maximum penalty for the Point Lepreau incident is a fine of $250,000.
But the Crown and defence lawyer Jessica Bungay jointly recommended "alternative sentencing" instead — the establishment of a workplace-safety focused bursary of $107,000 at the New Brunswick Community College in Richards's name, as part of a 30-day probation order.
As Richards was a member of a visible minority, they recommended that the student recipient also be a member of a visible minority, with a demonstrated commitment to workplace safety.
The judge questioned the public perception of the lack of words, such as fine or penalty or punishment.
"It's the same amount of money coming out of AIM's pocket, it's just what we do with it," replied McIntosh. "Do we put it in the general budget," by ordering AIM to pay a fine, "or do we direct it in a way that helps rectify this from happening in the future? And that's what we're aiming at."
The Darrell Edward Richards Bursary would help train young people, said McIntosh, "and hopefully those young people will be trained in ways that make their own workplaces safer in the future."
It's "well within the range of appropriate sentences," he said, citing case law. He also pointed to the company's guilty plea as a mitigating factor, because it spared the court a "complex and lengthy trial," and spared the family the trauma.
Haché has reserved decision on sentencing until Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
Richards's family supports the bursary proposal, according to his daughter-in-law.
It's "absolutely incredible to know that out of something so tragic that at least we will be able to keep his name alive, his memory, and that people will learn, you know, from this tragic mistake, this tragic accident, and you know, something good could come out of this," Bailey said.
"At the end of the day, nothing will bring Darrell back. It doesn't matter what is said, what penalty … is put on the company, it will never bring him back. We just want to make sure that something like this never happens to another family, that another wife doesn't lose her husband, or their father, you know, and that companies are held accountable when they do not protect their employees."
AIM vice-president for the eastern region Michael Cormier was present for the hearing, but declined to comment.
Bungay told the court the company acknowledges a workplace fatality is "the most severe harm that can occur" and is "deeply regretful."
The New Brunswick government is currently inspecting AIM's scrapyards in Saint John, Moncton and Fredericton to see if they're now in compliance with the fire code.
They were among 10 sites issued compliance notices following inspections prompted by a massive fire at the Saint John scrapyard Sept. 14 that burned for two days and resulted in a city-wide shelter in place order because of hazardous smoke.
Operations in Saint John have been suspended since then and the provincial government subsequently revoked the company's licence for the Saint John scrapyard.