Liam Johnson died on the job at the age of 27. Their loved ones want to see change and accountability

Emily Gofton can’t forget the morning in June 2023 that changed her life.

“When I got the call, I immediately knew… how it felt,” the 24-year-old recalls.

The voice on the other end of the phone said her boyfriend was Liam Johnston, 27, a plumbing apprentice. buried by trench collapse While working on sewer work at a home in Calgary.

She arrived at the scene, but never saw Liam alive again. Experts say he died within minutes due to the weight of the soil and concrete blocks and it took nine It took hours for firefighters to remove his body.

Johnson was one of about 350 Canadians who die each year from a traumatic on-the-job injury, based on Latest report from the University of Regina,

The case of his death faces regulatory charges for safety violations, which could lead to fines if found guilty.

But Gofton, as well as Johnson’s family, say the fine are not sufficient and criminal charges are expected in this case.

“We need a punishment that makes them say, wow. This isn’t worth it” said Johnston’s mother, Kim Ivison.

In Canada, criminal charges are rare if someone dies on the job.Now, SSome legal experts, labor groups and security professionals argue that change is needed.

Owners can be sued due to Westray law

While corporations or employers can be fined following a workplace death under occupational health and safety regulations, there is also the possibility of criminal prosecution due to legislation inspired by the 1992 Nova Scotia mining disaster.

known aswestray lawThe 2004 amendments to the Criminal Code are named in honor of the Nova Scotia mine, where an explosion killed 26 workers in 1992.

This law allows company owners, supervisors, managers or executives to be prosecuted and even jailed if someone dies on the job. This could include charges of criminal negligence causing death or murder, which carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.

In a high profile case, The Ottawa Police Service recently laid criminal charges against the owner of a company called Eastway Tanks For the death of six workers in an explosion there in 2022.

However, since Westray was introduced, charges and convictions have been rare.

According to research by the United Steelworkers Union (USW), the provisions of the Westray Criminal Code It has been used only 30 times since it came into effect more than two decades ago, resulting in only 11 convictions and only four people found guiltyOpal was sentenced to jail.

The union is insisting on thisr many More workplace death criminal prosecutions because it says employers are not taking the law seriously.

“There’s no real resistance,” said Kevon Stewart, director of USW Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

An employer could be found negligent, convicted, fined and considered a “cost of doing business,” he said.

Trainer says, police investigation is needed

Workplace safety consultant Rob Stewart also believes that more criminal charges under the Westray law could provide a “deterrent effect” to prevent future deaths.

But Stewart, chief science officer at Calgary-based Intectics Systems, says Westray Law suffers from a lack of awareness and training with legal officials and investigators.

According to Stewart, investigators in many jurisdictions will see that the death is a “work-related incident” and refer it to occupational health and safety regulators rather than completing a criminal investigation.

“We still have police constables, in some cases across police services, who don’t even know this law exists,” said Stewart, who has trained police forces, including Calgary, to investigate workplace deaths.

allegations in liam’s case

under alberta rulesFor any trench more than 1.5 meters deep, the employer must shore up the trench with temporary structures or slope the wall to prevent caving in.

According to the Calgary Fire Department, the ditch in which Johnson died was at least three meters deep – well above his head. A cinder block retaining wall holding up a hill above where the digging took place is visible in news photos and video of the scene.

Experts told CBC News such a wall could increase the danger.

Alberta Occupational Health and Safety (OHS), like Calgary police, investigated Johnston’s death.

The Calgary Police Service is one of the few police services in Canada whose detectives are specifically tasked with looking into workplace injuries and deaths.

Deputy Chief Cliff O’Brien could not comment directly on the Johnston case, but said as police investigate other types of deaths and things like car accidents, it makes sense to look at workplace deaths.

,When someone dies, whether there is criminality involved or not, we must investigate, even if it’s just so we can tell the family what happened,” he said.

It is unclear whether criminal charges will be laid in connection with Johnston’s death, but in May this year, Alberta OHS laid 11 regulatory charges against Johnston’s employer, Mr. Mike’s Plumbing.

The allegations included “failing to ensure that a worker was protected from falling excavation wall” and “failing to install protective structures”.

Those allegations have not yet been tested in court, and the company is expected to enter a plea on October 16.

CBC News wrote to company owner Mike Brock for comment. The response came from his lawyer, who said in an email, “We are confident that the legal process will clarify the facts of the incident and the surrounding events” and called Liam Johnston’s death “deeply tragic.”

In an online statement in 2023 after Johnson’s death, the company said he had “shoring on site” and that “at some point during the install, this tragedy occurred.”

Former Crown lawyer says it’s not as simple as more charges

As for worker safety, David Myrol is not convinced that simply imposing higher fees under the Westray provisions is enough to meaningfully change things.

Mayrol, a recently retired lawyer who has prosecuted and defended workplace safety charges, was Alberta’s first Crown attorney focused on workplace health and safety cases. He said he believes prosecutors are carefully selecting cases based on a reasonable likelihood of conviction.

“They don’t want to set a bad precedent going forward,” Myrol said. “You could lose the deterrent value of that criminal law.”

He said the burden of proof for a criminal charge is very high.

Regulatory charges require only evidence that a safety rule exists and has not been followed; Criminal prosecution requires proof of negligence beyond reasonable doubt, he said, and that the negligence caused death or injury.

“If you have knowledge of a hazardous condition at your workplace, and you fail to address that hazard in some meaningful way, you are subject to criminal liability,” Myrol said.

When workplace deaths are prosecuted, Myrol is concerned that some target supervisors rather than corporate owners, including 2023 sentencing in New Brunswick after an 18-year-old employee drowned at work, and An ongoing case in Ottawa In which a 20 year old employee died due to electric shock.

Despite the difficulty of prosecution, Myrol estimated that even a single case would have a huge impact if a high-ranking corporate executive was sent to prison for a workplace death.

“This will be discussed in every boardroom across Canada,” said Myrol, who currently leads a workplace safety consultancy in Edmonton.

Loved ones waiting to see what happens next

Johnson’s family and girlfriend are still waiting to see what will happen with the Alberta OHS charges and what plea the company has filed.

Calgary police have referred their investigation to the Alberta Crown Prosecution Office.

It is now up to the Crown to decide whether criminal charges are appropriate in connection with Johnston’s death, and at this time no one at Mr. Mike’s Plumbing has been criminally charged.

His parents are saddened by this loss.

“I try not to think about it, but it’s impossible,” said his stepfather Adam Groves.

“This didn’t have to happen.”

“He was just starting to really understand himself and have this real direction,” said his mother, Kim Ivison. “It was devastating”

His family and girlfriend are hoping someone from Mr. Mike’s PlumbEng Will be prosecuted under Westray law.

“Ideally for me, I would like to see jail time,” said Gofton, who has launched a public awareness campaign related to his late partner’s death.

“He’s still on my mind every day. I think about him every night, every morning.”