Inquest makes recommendations after 2023 death of man at Dieppe water main break

A coroner’s inquest has made recommendations to improve workplace safety after the death of a man in Dieppe, N.B., in August 2023.

A five-member jury at a coroner’s inquest in New Brunswick has made several recommendations aimed at improving workplace safety following the death of a man at a worksite in 2023.

The inquest into the death of Jamie Harris was held Monday and Tuesday at the Moncton courthouse.

Harris died after suffering injuries while working at the site of a water main break on Aug. 21, 2023.

The jury heard from nine witnesses during the inquest.

Coroners and juries can classify a death as a homicide, suicide, accident, natural causes or manner undetermined. The inquest determined Harris’s death was the result of an accident.

The jury made several recommendations for the employer, Perfection Contracting, which are:

• implement a two-person checklist, where both people sign off at the beginning and end of the day
• site workers should have risk awareness and safety awareness training provided by the New Brunswick Construction Safety Association
• enhance communications (sensors, headsets or a radio-enabled earbud), especially near heavy equipment
• make immediate repairs to excavator mirrors or implement protection cages similar to those used in forestry operations
• a spotter, if required, should remain in place while the machine is in operation

The jury also directed the following recommendations to WorkSafeNB:

• advocating for the implementation of a two-person checklist for all construction companies; in addition to the pre-shift inspection, one should be conducted at the end of each shift
• implementing mandatory certification and recertification for heavy equipment operators in New Brunswick
• implementing a policy to ensure adequate rest to prevent impairment due to fatigue. As in the trucking industry, such a policy would consider maximum hours worked and factor in hours worked the previous week.
• implementing harsher, tiered penalties for violations
• having unannounced drop-in sessions

The province says the chief coroner will send the recommendations to the appropriate agencies for consideration and response. The response will be included in the chief coroner’s annual report for 2025.

An inquest is a formal court proceeding that allows for the public presentation of all evidence relating to a death.

“It does not make any finding of legal responsibility, nor does it assign blame. However, recommendations can be made, aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances in the future,” reads a provincial news release.

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.