American Iron & Metal sentenced to pay $107K to establish scholarship in name of killed worker

American Iron & Metal has been sentenced to pay $107,000 to establish a workplace safety-focused scholarship at the New Brunswick Community College in the name of Darrell Edward Richards, a worker killed at its Saint John scrapyard in 2022.

Saint John provincial court Judge Claude Haché delivered his sentence Wednesday, based on a joint recommendation by the Crown and defence for an "alternative sentence."

It comes after the company changed its plea last week to guilty to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection with the death of Richards, 60, and an unrelated workplace incident at the Point Lepreau nuclear plant in 2021.

Each offence carries a maximum penalty of a $250,000 fine or six months in jail, or both.

"Having considered the applicable sentencing principles to the present matter, recognizing the defendant company's moral blameworthiness and the initiatives to improve the level of safety at their work sites, the court is of the view the proposed alternative sentence is appropriate and fair in the circumstances," Haché said.

Members of Richards's family, including his wife of 43 years, Bessie Collins, were present in court, but declined to comment following the proceedings. They said they felt they said everything they needed to last week, when they delivered heartfelt impact statements to the court and spoke to reporters.

At that time, Richards's daughter-in-law Kelsey Bailey said the family was glad the ordeal was over. "We're very glad that today has come ... that AIM has taken accountability and that they did not make it go to trial."

In a written impact statement provided to CBC, another daughter-in-law, Jennifer Newman, described the anguish the family endured at the hospital.

"When we arrived, the doctor told us how bad it was. That Darrell's heart had stopped on the way to the hospital, and that it was unlikely he would live due to the catastrophic nature of his injuries," she wrote.

"For 12 hours, we waited and hoped and prayed.… We waited for a miracle that didn't come."

The [company's] responses to the media were dismissive and cold, not expressing at all that this man we all loved was dead. They talked about him like he was an inconvenience to them, and not a husband and father or friend.- Jennifer Newman, daughter-in-law

Newman fell into a "deep state of depression" over the loss of the kind, loving man, who made everyone feel special, she said. Within a week, that turned to overwhelming anger.

"The [company's] responses to the media were dismissive and cold, not expressing at all that this man we all loved was dead. They talked about him like he was an inconvenience to them, and not a husband and father or friend," Newman wrote.

"We didn't just lose Darrell, we lost the hopes we had for the future. We lost normalcy. We lost the lives and memories we all thought we'd have."

AIM vice-president for the eastern region Michael Cormier also declined to comment.

'Preventable and costly failure'

Richards was injured at the west side scrapyard on June 30, 2022, while straddling a large calender roll, a roller used in paper production, and cutting into it with a circular saw to strip material from the metal shaft.

"Approximately 3,750 pounds of material under at least 1,500 tons of pressure released with enough force to send pieces of material several feet into the air and dispersed across the job site," said Haché. "The release caused a deep laceration of Mr. Richards' groin area, severing his femoral artery and causing severe blood loss."

The married father of three died in hospital the next day.

Haché described his death as tragic, due to a "preventable and costly failure communicating the necessary and appropriate safe work practices."

The calender roll came from an AIM facility in Maine, which was "aware of the hazards associated with dismantling the calender rolls," and had developed their own safety procedures, including setting a 70-foot safety zone and excluding anyone not actively decommissioning the roll, the judge explained.

"Although a protocol exists for communicating hazards associated with materials that are shipped between the Maine facility and AIM New Brunswick, there is no clear procedure for the sharing of health and safety practices or concerns," he said.

"AIM New Brunswick had no experience dismantling the calender rolls and were unaware of the danger associated with them."

The charge AIM pleaded guilty to was failing to take every reasonable precaution to ensure the health and safety of any person having access or using that place of employment by failing to provide information on the hazards of a calender roll to Richards.

'Highly dangerous and unpredictable situation'

It also pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that an employee who is not a qualified person does not carry out any work that is liable to bring any person or object closer than 3.6 metres to an energized electrical utility line, in connection with the Dec. 3, 2021, incident near Mace's Bay.

On that date, AIM dispatched two drivers to the Point Lepreau nuclear generating station to deliver and remove scrap metal collection cans. One driver steered the boom, or extendable arm, of the truck too close to high-voltage power lines while lifting a can, which caused an electrical arc and fire. The vehicle burned to the ground

"Although no injuries were sustained in the accident, it was a highly dangerous and unpredictable situation," which resulted in property and ancillary damage, Haché said.

Following the two incidents, AIM implemented several safety procedures, including daily inspections to identify safety risks, and health and safety training, the judge noted

"Consequently, the defendant company has demonstrated a commitment in creating safe work sites and instilling a culture of safety for their employees and contractors across the scope of their operations."

He considered general sentencing principles, such as deterrence and retribution, he said, as well as the size of the company, the scope of its economic activity, the extent of the actual and potential harm to the public, and the maximum penalty prescribed by the act.

"The court accepts that AIM is a medium-sized employer in New Brunswick," with 188 employees at the Saint John scrapyard at the time of Richards's death, "while the scope of the economic activity — at least as it relates to the work done at Point Lepreau and by D. Richards General Contracting — was small in size," Haché said.

The act states that a judge may, as an "alternative" penalty, order a person or company to give money to a party to support occupational health and safety training or educational programs, occupational health and safety research programs, occupational health and safety initiatives by non-profit organizations, or scholarships for educational institutions offering studies in occupational health and safety and related disciplines, he told the court.

Details of scholarship

Applicants for the scholarship must be enrolled full time in a program at the New Brunswick Community College, be a member of a visible minority, demonstrate financial needs, and demonstrate an understanding and commitment to workplace safely, Haché said.

The amount and number of awards will be determined by the college, based on the earnings of the endowed funds, he said.

Crown prosecutor Wes McIntosh withdrew the other three charges against AIM. These included failing to properly protect and train Richards, and failing to make sure work was overseen by trained supervisors.

Operations at AIM's harbourside scrapyard in Saint John have been suspended since a massive fire Sept. 14. It burned for two days and resulted in a city-wide shelter-in-place order because of hazardous smoke.