IN the moments just before a terrible accident unfolded at Western Stevedoring's Lynnterm terminal, a welder named Filippo Briglio turned to see heavy-duty mechanic Kevin Lowes driving a large forklift on to a barge ramp, carrying a welding unit.
But that forklift and its load were far too heavy for the ramp. Briglio saw the overloaded ramp was tilting badly. He ran towards the ramp, past a stack of containers on the dock that momentarily blocked his view.
When he got there, the forklift was nowhere in sight on the now-corkscrewed ramp. Briglio saw bubbles rise up from the water. Then a life jacket rose to the surface.
An hour and a half later, a Canadian Coast Guard diver recovered Lowes' body from inside the cabin of the forklift, upside down in about 25 feet of water.
On Monday, in a North Vancouver courtroom, Lowes' employer Western Stevedoring was fined $145,000 after pleading guilty to violating two sections of the Canadian Labour Code leading up to the accident that cost Lowes his life on May 19, 2010.
The North Vancouver company pleaded guilty to failing to ensure Lowes was made aware of every safety hazard in the area where he worked and failing to address unique hazards relating to the use of the barge ramp.
Crown prosecutor John Cliffe dropped 12 other charges.
In entering pleas to two of the charges, Western Stevedoring has "accepted responsibility for this terrible accident," said Andrew Nathanson, the defence lawyer for the company.
"It's a terrible, tragic accident," he said. "Many things have to go wrong for something like this to happen."
Many things did go wrong that day.
Lowes, a 44-year-old father who was raised in North Vancouver, had worked on the dock as a heavy-duty mechanic for 16 years, including six as a regular employee of the company. He had a reputation as an "experienced, smart and safe worker," prior to the accident, said Cliffe.
On the day of the fatal accident, Lowes had been asked to repair a metal chain at the end of the barge ramp with Briglio's help. A 40-year-old operating manual set out load limits for the ramp, including restrictions against any equipment over 10,000 pounds of gross vehicle weight being allowed on the ramp unless it was set down on a barge at the outer end.
But nobody consulted the manual before going ahead with the work. There were also no signs posted on the barge ramp warning of the load limits.
While workers sometimes took a small forklift, weighing about 9,500 pounds, on to the ramp, there was an "unwritten policy" that "large machines" should never be taken on the ramp unless it was connected to a barge, said Cliffe.
Lowes' supervisor George Flello agreed to let Lowes use the smaller forklift to bring the welding unit part way on to ramp that day. But instead, Lowes decided to drive a much heavier forklift with a rated weight of about 47,000 pounds on to the barge ramp - with tragic results.
An engineering company that investigated the accident found the barge ramp was overloaded by anywhere from 45 to 200 per cent at the time of the accident.
Both Lowes' mother Trudy Lowes and Tracey Wenberg, the mother of his daughter, were in court for the sentencing.
"It's the first time we've heard the details. It's hard," said Wenberg outside the court.
Both women said they still find it hard to understand why Lowes drove the heavy forklift on to the ramp. "It's just so not him," said Wenberg. She said while Lowes' own decision played a part in the accident, "there were clearly some things the employer neglected to address."
In court, Wenberg described the impact of Lowes' death on his teenage daughter. "Shortly after the tragedy we had to go through the first Father's Day," she said. "He won't see his daughter graduate from high school. He won't be there to walk her down the aisle when she gets married."
Since the accident, the barge ramp has been removed from the terminal. All non-routine work must also have a written plan in place. The company has also hired a safety consultant who will make further recommendations, said company president Brad Eshleman, outside the court.
Judge William Rodgers agreed with lawyers' suggestions that $30,000 of the fine should go to a trust fund for Lowes' daughter. A further $15,000 will to a charity Threads of Life that supports families in cases of workplace fatalities and injuries.
jseyd@nsnews.com
