Inquest hears details of James Baker's workplace drowning death

The widow of a man who drowned in a workplace accident four years ago says it's hard to hear what happened to him the day the bulldozer he was operating overturned into a water-filled pit in Caraquet, N.B.

"It's hard to listen to every last detail," said Jim Baker's wife, Pam, after the first day of an inquest into his death. "It's hard that things weren't done or that safety wasn't a main concern."

The inquest began Monday in Woodstock, N.B.

Baker, 58, died Oct. 27, 2014 from injuries he sustained while working for Caldwell and Ross Limited, a Fredericton-based construction company, at a gravel pit in Caraquet.

The company was working on the Route 11 bypass project.

Co-workers testify

Chief coroner Gregory Forestell heard from six witnesses on Monday including Baker's foreman, safety supervisor and two co-workers.

Peggy McLaughlin, the onsite safety and communications supervisor for Caldwell and Ross, said Baker was asked to do some in-filling around the pit that day because there was no roadwork for him to do.

"James wanted to know how deep the water was. I couldn't tell him," McLaughlin said adding an excavator operator told them it was five to six feet deep.

McLaughlin testified there was a berm around the pit but when counsel Brian Munn showed her a picture of the area, there was none.

The inquest heard McLaughlin went to the site twice that day. It was on her second visit around 1:30 p.m. that another employee asked her where Baker was.

"And then all of sudden, I spotted the track of the dozer."

The inquest heard McLaughlin accidently called Baker's supervisor, Greg Hudson while trying to call 911. When he arrived at the pit he got chains hooked to an excavator to try and lift the bulldozer out of the water.

But before arriving, co-workers were in the water trying to get the door open on the bulldozer to get Baker out. The inquest heard all that was sticking out of the water was some of the track and a corner of the blade.

Hudson testified he had worked with Baker on other projects and he was an experienced operator who knew you had to "keep a berm in front of you all the times, and never go through it."

Alone on site

Baker's task that day was to get the water out of the pit that had filled up from excessive rain. No one knew how long the bulldozer had been in the water. Co-workers testified they invited Baker to go with them for the hour-long lunch break from 12 to 1 p.m., but he stayed on site to eat and the bulldozer was not close to the water.

Guy Losier, through a translator, said, "I think that he pushed the berm inadvertently, and perhaps backing up, and went in."

Hudson said there are now new guidelines to follow when working close to water, including never leaving a person alone.

'Nothing else we could do'

Const. Serge Hachee, testifying through a translator, said he was on the scene for 10 minutes before the excavator was able to lift the bulldozer out of the water. Another RCMP member smashed the window and it took 15 minutes to get Baker out of the bulldozer.

"There was nothing else we could do," Hachee said in French.

After further investigation of the site, Baker's death was declared a workplace accident.

RCMP reconstructionist Cpl. Michel Lanteigne testified the ground was very soft where the bulldozer went in.

"It was a mixture of dirt, rock and water."

Putting himself in Baker's position, Lanteigne said he must have driven sideways to the water in order to roll the way he did.

Bruno Sonier, a paramedic with Ambulance NB testified the excavator kept slipplng as it tried to right the bulldozer.

"I told him don't try to get it out of the water, just secure it so we can see in the cab," Sonier said. "When we saw the other window was open, we knew there wasn't an air pocket...and then we saw his arm."

Dr. Ismatun Swati, a pathologist in the Chaleur Regional Hospital, conducted the autopsy and concluded Baker died from drowning.

She testified there was a cut on the knuckle of his left hand, a bruise on his face and a cut to his eye. His lungs were waterlogged.

End result

Pam Baker said it was hard to sit and listen to people testifying about things that were said or done or not done.

"There were concerns about the water in the pit and they ignored it anyway. They were at the end of the job and they wanted to all get home so they pushed it," she said.

"The end result — me and my family paid the end result. Jim paid the end result, as far as I'm concerned."

Pam Baker said she knows she will never know exactly how or why her husband and the bulldozer ended up in the water pit.

"He became a statistic that day and that's why we stay involved," she said. "We're here to make sure somebody gets home and sit at their supper table."

The inquest is expected to conclude on Wednesday.