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R.D. Longard Services convicted in Christopher Boyle's death

R.D. Longard Services convicted in Christopher Boyle's death

A Halifax company has been found guilty of failing to take every reasonable precaution to protect one of its employees who died from electrocution.

Christopher Boyle, 39, was killed in 2013 when he touched a 600-volt electrical panel.

The incident happened behind a row of shops in the Bayers Lake Business Park.

On May 21 2013, Boyle was working on an electrical panel on his back when he reached up into the box, electrocuting himself.

A coworker and intern pulled him out and started CPR, but they couldn't save him.

The Williamswood man was the father of two young children.

On Monday, Judge Anne Derrick found R.D. Longard guilty of two violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

She ruled Longard hadn't done due diligence to prevent Boyle's accident.

"The company took a completely hands-off approach to Mr. Boyle's work. It had no safety program, no manual, no policies, nothing," wrote Derrick in her ruling.

In her ruling Derrick noted that Boyle was an "experienced technician."

"There were no protective measures in place and their absence — with Longard simply relying on Mr. Boyle's experience and safety-consciousness without more and not anticipating that he would work on a 600-volt system — is not due diligence," she said.

The offences are regulatory, which means no one at the company will serve jail time.

A fine could be handed out during sentencing, scheduled for a later date.