A construction worker who described himself as the right hand of the late Steven Lutes, says the death of his supervisor could have been easily avoided if Lutes had had an observer.
“If someone had been by his side, he might have been warned that he was getting too close to the edge,” Joel Gardner said in a recorded statement handed to WorkSafeNB investigators the day after the fatal crash.
“All I’ve seen is rush to this place,” said Gardner, who was working on the fifth floor, “eight feet above” Lutes as the two tried to move the concrete forms to their position on the morning of the 30th. January 2017..
Gardner expressed grief and remorse for the loss of Lutes, whom he described as a good man with whom he was easy to work with and understand.
He said he was talking to Lutes at the scene around 7:30 a.m., less than four hours before Lutes fell.
He said the father of two had been talking about his young children attending a birthday party and going swimming.
Gardner said Lutes, who lived in Upper Coverdale, was exhausted, in part because he drove to work every day “from Moncton” and was under pressure from his employer to get the job done.
“I was always tired,” Gardner said on the tape. “He was driving from Moncton and had two young children.”
“There was a lot of pressure on Steve,” he said. “I blame it all on being scarce on the boys,” he said.
The worker felt rushed
The forensic investigation began Monday morning in St. John’s court with the selection of a five-member jury.
The jury learned that by the time Lutes fell, the wooden railings had been removed so that a crane could lift a concrete formwork.
Gardner said he felt he saw Lutes wearing his harness, but said workers were often in too much of a hurry to secure their harnesses or that there were no good places to connect to them.
Gardner said the pressure came from his employer, Lead Structural Formwork.
In 2019, the company was fined $ 50,000 in connection with Lutes ’death after pleading guilty to a charge under the Occupational Safety and Health Act for failing to ensure the system was used. of fall protection.
The Hilton Garden Inn in Fredericton opened in August 2018. (Catherine Harrop / CBC)
Michael Goodwin, another worker who was present that day, said it was a pretty insecure job.
“Everything was rushed, rushed,” Goodwin said. “And if you’re in a hurry, you’ll make mistakes.”
Corner President Emily Caissy asked Goodwin if he was aware of the consequences of not making deadlines.
“I guess you could say you were afraid of losing your job,” Goodwin replied.
Nothing criminal
The jury also heard Carla Forsythe, who was then a detective in the main crime unit of the Fredericton Police Force.
He said he responded to the scene that morning and spoke to witnesses. He said there was nothing to suggest that anything criminal had happened.
There was no suggestion that Lutes had been pushed, for example, or that there had been a fight before the incident.
He concluded that it was a tragic accident.
The project was going well, testifies the owner’s son
Paul Crevatin said he had been New Brunswick’s regional manager of Lead Structural Formwork at the time of the incident and said the company had been co-founded by his father.
Crevatin said Lutes was a high school friend and knew Lutes was busy with the project and agreed to leave office work to do some work.
“I said I would come down and help her,” Crevatin said. “I asked him where it would be most useful and he directed me to the fifth floor.”
Crevatin said he did not see Lutes fall, but heard the crane operator say someone had fallen and the operator said he thought it was Lutes.
“I dropped my tool belt,” said Crevatin, who then rushed to look around the edge of the building where he could see someone lying on the floor.
When Crevatin arrived at Lutes, he said he checked for dust and observed that the Lutes were not breathing.
“There was a lot of blood coming out of his head and ear,” Crevatin said.
“I did CPR until the ambulance arrived. He was pronounced dead within minutes.”
Crevatin said he began making calls, first to his own father, then to other business owners. He was unable to contact his father immediately. He also said he just wanted to leave the place and go see Lutes ’wife and children, who were then eight and ten years old.
But he said police would not let him drive in the state he was in.
Crevatin was asked several questions about whether the work was lagging behind and whether the workers felt pressured. He said it was not so.
“I think we were operating within expectations,” Crevatin said. “The work was going very well.”
“It wasn’t like we were under the gun.”
Crown prosecutor Jeremy Erickson, who was questioning witnesses as a forensic attorney, reminded Crevatin of something he told a WorkSafeNB officer.
“You said you and Lutes always push,” Erickson said, asking Crevatin to explain what he meant.
Crevatin said it meant he and Lutes were organized and dynamic, and in that sense, they were both “pushers.”
The investigation resumes Tuesday morning.
The eight-story hotel opened in August 2018. It was originally scheduled to be completed in late 2017.
The lead structural formwork was contracted by general contractor Lindsay Construction.
Aquilini Properties is the owner of the site.