"I tried to help him": the coroner's investigation investigates the fatal fall of a worker

Nobody saw Adam Carleton fall on February 5, 2018.

That day, 33-year-old insulation contractor Grandview Insulation Contractor Inc. was insulating a fourth floor heating pipe from Irving Oil's new headquarters.

Shortly after 1 pm, Wayne Steeves, a sprinkler installer, heard the sound of a ladder falling to the ground.

He looked down to see Carleton lying on the ground at a farther distance.

"I thought maybe he had fractured an arm or wrist," Steeves said. "Then I saw him begin to convulse and turn on his belly."

Carleton died the next day at the Saint John Regional Hospital with a head injury in the fall.

A coroner's investigation is underway in Saint John to determine how Carleton – his colleague Nick Melvin, remembers him as the kind of fun and hardworking guy you "wanted to work with" – died.

The investigation is presided over by New Brunswick Chief Coroner Gregory Forestell, Crown Attorney Chris Titus, acting as Coroner's Counsel, and lawyer Jamie Lemesurier, representing the service company. EllisDon / FCC construction.

Titus said Monday that some 13 witnesses should be summoned.

"I just panicked"

Investigators learned that, according to security protocols on the Irving site at King's Square, in case of an accident, workers had to go to the first aid station and make three horns to call the internal first aid team.

That, says Steeves, did not happen.

"Were you aware of what you had to do?" Titus asked.

"Yes," Steeves said.

"How come it did not happen?"

"I just panic," Steeves said. "Everything came out of my mind."

Workmates tried to take care of Carleton while he was lying on the floor, Steeves said, attempting to stabilize his body by calling 911.

"There was no way to help him"

Brian Lent – Carleton's foreman, who had driven Carleton to the center in the morning – took off his sweater and placed it under Carleton's head, where a pool of blood was forming.

"I tried to help her," says Slowly, becoming emotional. "But there was no way to help him, I do not think so."

Carent said that after Carleton's death, he had ordered insulators to use eight scissor lift platforms, rather than ladders.

Although scissor lifts are expensive and can not be used in all work situations, they are more stable than alternatives, Lent said.

"I do not want anything else to happen," said Lent. "They work on scissor lifts when they can … … they work on a ladder, another guy holds the bottom of the ladder," he said.

"I do not want someone to be a grave and be hurt."

Mandatory helmets

Carl Seeley, FAC Construction's Health and Safety Coordinator, said all workers needed "fall protection training" to minimize the impact of accidents.

Carleton had completed the training just months before his death and was wearing safety gear, including a helmet, at the time of his death.

Although safety helmets are mandatory on the site, they are designed to withstand impacts from above, not to protect workers in the event of a fall.

Workers are not required to wear straps that would keep their helmet in place during a fall.

& # 39; Mix-up & # 39; with the location

Seeley said the workers had been informed that due to the recent construction, some 911 operators might not know the site's location.

In case of an accident, said Mr. Seeley, the workers were told to inform the 911 operator that the address was 30 King Square South.

However, according to paramedic Jeremy Marsh, "there was confusion". [the call] came through. "

"The call was sent to the Union Street Irving building – but we knew it was probably at the tower," Marsh said.

The paramedics always arrived in a few minutes.

"We have never been baffled," said Marsh.

Marsh observed blood from Carleton's nose and ears and a two-inch laceration at the forehead on the right eye.

It showed signs of swelling of the brain: alternation of grasping and posture – an involuntary reflex that is a sign of serious brain injury.

The paramedics spent 35 minutes on the scene, evaluating Carleton, loading him onto the board and getting him into the ambulance.

Because of the way he moved, said Marsh, it was necessary to use police handcuffs for "about 30 seconds" to restrain his arms so that he could be loaded onto the stretcher.

They left at 14:05. and were in the hospital at 2:11 pm The state of Carleton continued to deteriorate and he was removed from the survival system the next day.

The investigation is continuing

The coroner and the jury of three women and two men hear evidence to determine the facts surrounding Carleton's death.

The jury will then make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths in similar circumstances.

Three days have been allocated to the judicial investigation, which could, however, be concluded earlier.

The investigation resumes Tuesday at the Saint John courthouse at 9 am.