Monday, August 08, 2011

CANADA: Airport worker who died wasn't wearing a safety harness. Servisair faces charges under Canada Labour Code.

CALGARY — A veteran airport worker who fell to his death from the bucket of a cherry picker while de-icing a jet at Calgary International Airport on Dec. 21, 2009, was not wearing a safety harness with lanyard, court heard on Monday.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Murgappa Naiker, 52, died from a blunt head injury when he fell 5.66 metres and struck his head on the tarmac while working on the Boeing 737 Canadian North aircraft about 6 a.m.

His employer Servisair, a worldwide provider of aviation ground services, is facing three charges under the Canada Labour Code alleging failure to ensure the health and safety of its employee.

“The crux of the case is whether the defence is able to establish they were duly diligent to prevent this incident,” federal prosecutor Kent Brown told provincial court Judge Sharon Van de Veen in his opening statement. “The Crown also questions if there was sufficient training to prevent this from happening.”

Brown said company records show Naiker had 17 years experience and had been involved in de-icing aircraft on 390 occasions the previous year alone before his death.

Naiker fell while de-icing the first aircraft of the day in an open area on the tarmac away from the terminal building and aircraft gates, according to the court document.

The victim, says the facts agreed to by both Brown and defence lawyer Lindsay Mullen, by not wearing the harness and lanyard was acting “contrary to Servisair’s safe work policies, practices and procedures and contrary to the training he received.”

The lanyard would be attached to the harness on one end and to the bucket on the other end, to limit the distance the de-icer could fall if he fell from the bucket.

The document also noted Servisair emphasized proper use of harnesses and lanyards and the mandatory requirement that these fall restraint devices be used at all times while in the open bucket.

Doug Gould, then a federal health and safety officer who was the leading investigator on the case, said the inward-opening door on the box where Naiker was working was opened when he arrived at the scene.

He said he conducted his measurements on the cherry picker, still in the same position as it was when the victim fell, then participated in interviews with all of the witnesses — including Joerg Zoche, the ground truck operator of the de-icing machine operated by the victim.

Gould said he observed Naiker’s body directly below the raised bucket and that he was not wearing any harness. There was no harness or lanyard in the bucket, either, he said.

“I can only assume because the door was open, it was open when he fell,” Gould told Brown. “He was the only one in the bucket.”

Gould said he did not recommend any charges against Servisair when he filed his report in April 2010, but that the decision to do so must have been made at a later date after he began working on a new job.

The investigator said the company previously investigated two safety incidents but neither of them involved use of harness equipment.

Under cross-examination by Mullen, he said Servisair was completely co-operative in the investigation and providing staff for interviews.

He also said the only issue discussed by himself and other investigators regarding charges was any possible lack of supervision at the time if the incident, “which I disagreed with.”

“Servisair did not do a performance review of employees’ de-icing. Once the employees demonstrated they could do this, they didn’t go out and watch them.” he said.

Gould said he had also rejected any possible charges because of lack of training.

The trial, scheduled to sit for eight days, continues on Tuesday.

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