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Coroner's report rules Colomac Mine death was drowning Galit Rodan Northern News Services Published Wednesday, November 16, 2011
According to a report by coroner Garth Eggenberger, released Monday, the death of David Arthur Legros on March 1, 2009 has been determined to be an accidental drowning. Legros, a safety supervisor with Tli Cho Logistics, died after falling through the ice on a tailings pond. He was 49 years old. LeGros had been supervising two co-workers removing a pump from the pond and, once the work was done, had stayed behind to photograph caribou. At about 5:20 p.m., nearly three hours after he had last been seen, co-workers spotted his truck and a set of footprints leading to a hole in the ice. They called for assistance, then made their way out onto the ice, where, according to the report, they could see Legros floating beneath about a half inch of ice. They punched holes in the ice and dragged him out of the water and back to shore in a skiff. One co-worker administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation until an ambulance arrived. Medics could not revive him and he was pronounced dead at about 6:30 p.m. The NWT Coroner Service followed its report with a list of four recommendations directed specifically at representatives from Tli Cho Logistics, Public Works and Government Services and Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (formerly Indian and Northern Affairs Canada). Shirley Legros said the recommendations were a start but called them "very vague." The report called for adequate fencing and warning signage on site; a system of remote location reporting in place and enforced at regular intervals, including procedures to follow when a worker fails to call in; a surface rescue team with regular training in ice and water rescues; and a suggestion that personnel working near ice wear a high visibility floater vest and proper waterproof clothing under winter gear, as well as have a dry change of clothes nearby. Legros said she had been told by the coroner's office that in the past, companies have resisted following recommendations that are too stringent. The coroner service has attempted to remedy this problem by offering recommendations that are more easily implemented. Shortly after her husband's death, Legros told Yellowknifer that workers should not be left on their own and that, "If someone had been with David, I think he would still be alive." On Monday she said though her husband knew he shouldn't be alone on site, complacency and reluctance to slow down the work of others likely led him not to ask anyone to stay behind with him for a short while that day. "You knew the guys were busy and you never thought to ask them to stay and it didn't seem right that you did," she said. "And you put their work ahead of your safety." Legros said she would like signage to be put up. "All of our lakes here that have any involvement with our mines ... It's cheaper than paying the costs after," she said. She also said workers would benefit from training that would require them to get in the water with their work clothes on.
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