Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

NNSL (Mar 29/99) - The GNWT was fined $220,000 in territorial court Thursday following a guilty plea to a string of violations of the Safety Act, which prosecutors say led to the Feb. 15, 1998, accidental death of Iniaq (Aiyow) Qavavauq, an Nanisivik Airport worker.

FACT BOX Safety deficiencies at the Nanisivik Airport revealed by the Worker's Compensation Board and the GNWT: *None of the workers involved had any heavy equipment training *No health and safety committee *No on-site supervisor *Heavy equipment in poor condition *No communications equipment between equipment operator *Inoperable back-up alarm on bulldozer *Windows and mirrors on bulldozer were marked or broken *Back-up lights and rotating beacons were not working *Three workers doing the work of five *No reflective vests worn by workers

Judge Brian Bruser handed down the heavy fine as a deterrent message to government and industry that safety will not be compromised.

"The main goal here is public protection," Bruser said. "In order to achieve this end, we must send a clear, loud message to others that this type of conduct will not be tolerated."

In handing down the largest fine in GNWT history, Judge Bruser said the order is not to reprimand, but to reinforce the need for safety in the workplace.

"The goal here is not to punish the accused, but to give notice to the community," he said. "Human safety ought never to be compromised."

"The government can afford to pay a high fine, but who is the government," he questioned. "The taxpayers will ultimately pay the price."

Bruser said the government should be setting an example for industry to follow the laws of safety.

"(The GNWT) is a role model," he said. "If industry is to follow the law, government must too."

Crown attorney, Alan Regel, cited a list of safety violations which he said led to the death of the worker.

"The equipment they were using was poorly maintained and some of the safety equipment wasn't working," he said. "The safety vests that were available were not being worn by the employees and there was nobody there saying, 'If you're going to be operating equipment, wear a safety vest.'"

"There was no means of communicating from one piece of heavy equipment to the other," Regel said.

"Furthermore, there was no means of communicating from either piece of equipment to somebody at a base station as it were," he said.

Regel said the lack of communication ability was one of the problems leading to the fatal accident.

"The deceased apparently wanted to talk to the other guy, got off the loader he was operating and approached the dozer," Regel said. "It appears he fell and slipped down the snow windrow."

"(Qavavauq) got caught under the track. His leg was just about severed completely from his body," Regel said. "Once he was discovered, he had to be left laying there in 36 below weather, while the other guy drove the dozer into town."

Airport worker, Andrew Taqtu, drove the bulldozer three kilometres to the Nanisivik Mine Health Centre, and returned with the nurse in charge and the mine's foreman.

Twenty minutes had passed between the time of the accident and the time the nurse got to the scene.

"By the time they get there, the guy has bled to death," he said.

The GNWT has since spent between $20,000 and $30,000 in upgrades to the airport.

Attorney for the GNWT, Earl Johnson, requested three months to pay the fine due to fiscal year accounting which is now under way.