Charges laid
Provincial highways department charged in 2013 death of employee
Two years to the day that Wayne Theodore Wall of Cape Ray was killed in a tragic incident on the job, his employer has been charged with violating the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Wall, 40, was a member of a Department of Transportation and Works paint crew that was preparing to paint “YIELD” on the eastbound driving lane of the Trans-Canada Highway near the Flat Bay turnoff when he was struck by a passing pickup truck July 23, 2013.
Three others were taken to hospital, including two people who were in the private pickup and a Department of Transportation and Works employee who was sitting in a government truck that the pickup smashed into after hitting Wall.
In a news release issued Thursday, Service NL said the subsequent investigation by its Occupational Health and Safety branch has resulted in the filing of eight charges against the Department of Transportation and Works.
The violations allege there was a failure to provide a safe workplace, failure to provide instruction and supervision, failure to ensure effective traffic control was provided and failure to ensure an occupational health and safety program was implemented.
The matter will be called for a first appearance at provincial court in Stephenville Sept. 21, 2015.
Later Thursday, Transportation and Works Minister David Brazil issued a press release regarding the charges. He expressed his condolences to Wall’s family and thanked the department’s staff and employees in working towards making their workplace safer.
“This traffic incident has had a profound impact on them and on the staff and crews of the Department of Transportation and Works who knew and worked with Mr. Wall,” read the prepared statement.