Mechanic Peter Kempton's family waits for answers 1 year later
A year after a Nova Scotia mechanic died in fiery explosion at an auto repair shop, his death is still under investigation by the provincial Department of Labour and the RCMP, while the victim's daughter waits for answers.
A CBC News investigation has now learned Peter Kempton's employer has opened two new businesses. Labour investigators have issued orders to improve workplace safety at one of them.
- Listen to Elizabeth Chiu's report on Information Morning
Kempton, 58, was a licensed mechanic at Your Mechanic Auto Corner on Main Street in Dartmouth when he died last year.
On Sept. 20, 2013, Kempton was using an oxy-acetylene torch to remove a part from the underside of a minivan that was sitting on a trailer outside the garage.
"Somehow he nicked the gas tank or the gas line. There was an explosion and the car exploded with him under it," said Shannon Kempton, his daughter.
“He sustained burns to 90 per cent of his body and 55 per cent were third-degree burns."
Kempton died the next day in hospital.
His boss, Elie Hoyeck, said Kempton was removing a gas tank from the minivan, using a torch. Hoyeck said he asked Kempton to remove the tank, but he said he did not instruct Kempton to use a torch to do the work. He also said Kempton should have known better than to use a torch.
"He should not have cut that with the torch," Hoyeck told CBC News.
"You know what? A lot of mechanics do. I won't lie to you. I've done it before."
Shannon Kempton said her father does bear some personal responsibility for his death, but she believes his workplace was unsafe and that his employer should be at least partly responsible.
"I can't accept the fact that he went to work that day and never got to come home," she said.
"I can't accept the fact that he went to work that day in a place where safety wasn't even a consideration to the owner of the company and this happened."
Multiple safety orders
After the accident, provincial labour investigators issued a stop work order to Your Mechanic Auto Corner, along with 22 other safety orders. They included an order to remove hazardous materials obstructing work areas, to fix a hoist and to secure gas cylinders in a safe manner. The employer was also told to secure proper training and equipment for welding work.
The orders were never followed because the building was sold and the business closed the next month.
Both the provincial Department of Labour and the RCMP continue to investigate the fatality. The department has up to two years to lay charges.
No charges have been laid and there is no finding that safety conditions at Your Mechanic Auto Corner caused Kempton's death.
Hoyeck denies any responsibility for his employee's death.
"Peter, god love his soul. He is a licensed mechanic and he is the only knowledgeable person that went to school to study that kind of work on the premises," Hoyeck said.
"He himself should have known that he shouldn't have put himself in that position."
Hoyeck is now operating new auto repair shops: the Milford Auto Centre in Milford and 1 Stop Auto at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
Since May, he's been hit with 10 safety orders at 1 Stop Auto. In August, he was fined $800 for failing to come up with a safe welding plan.
The Labour Department said Hoyeck recently submitted that plan and he has now complied with all safety orders.
