A Canadian court has found a site supervisor guilty of
criminal negligence causing death following a workplace accident
that resulted in the death of a young construction
worker.
Michael Henderson, a young worker employed by Springhill
Construction Ltd. died while working at a wastewater treatment and
pumping plant in Fredericton, New Brunswick, in 2018.
The City of Fredericton contracted with the company to construct
a settling tank as part of a program to improve the treatment of
wastewater discharged into the Saint John River. The worker was
working inside an 8-foot deep, 3.5-foot wide hole, cleaning debris
as directed by his supervisor, Jason King. While cleaning out the
hole, water began to trickle from a horizontal pipe running into
the hole. As a result, a rubber plug was inserted into the pipe to
stop water from entering the hole. The supervisor decided to
conduct a leak test while the plug was in place and while the
worker was still in the hole but failed
