Evidence concludes at trial for companies accused in workplace death at children's hospital site

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An Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) trial into the workplace death of a 21-year-old construction worker has adjourned until December for arguments.

The trial concluded late Wednesday after three days of testimony in which Banff Constructors and Pilosio Canada called their own expert engineering witnesses in an improvised courtroom at Saskatoon’s Sheraton Cavalier hotel.

The construction subcontractor and formwork table cart supplier are accused of infractions under the OHS Act after Eric Ndayishimiye died while working on the Jim Pattison Children’s Hospital construction site on July 21, 2016.

When the trial began in August 2019, court heard another construction worker removed two locking pins from a Pilosio formwork table cart, by himself, and tried pushing the cart into a tight space before it fell on Ndayishimiye, who was stripping nails nearby.

Banff Constructors is accused of failing to properly train its employees on how to use the cart, while Pilosio is accused of supplying equipment without ensuring it is safe when used as instructed.