July 31, 1992 88 pages

Office, Editorial 985-2131

Union boss calls for prosecution
of N. Van co. in connection with
Dec. 1991 waterfront accident

THE PRESIDENT of the longshoremen's union repre-
senting a worker who was severely injured in December
when high winds toppled a bulk shiploader he was
operating at Vancouver Wharves Ltd. in North Vancouver
is calling for the Canadian Coast Guard to prosecute the
company over an alleged safety violation.

In the Dec. 12, 1991, industrial
mishap, shiploader operator Bill
Bernier, 57, was loading sulphur
into the hold of a vessel when a
safety alarm sounded, warning
workers of a heavy wind hazard.

Bernier was attempting to move
the No. 4 eas: shiploader into a
safe position when it was caught
by high wind. The rig is fitted
with dise brakes.

Abou 10 years ago, storm
brakes — a static spring-loaded
rail clamp system — were fitted to
the shiploader. According to a
Dec. 16 federal ship safety report,
the storm brake system can only
be used when the shiploader is not
moving.

But at the time of the Dec. 12
accident the interim report notes
that ‘it does not appear that the
storm brakes were implemented "'
when the loader ‘‘started to slew
with the wind."’

The wind blew the loader along
its rails. IC hit some stops installed
at the end of the rail and tipped
over, Janding partially on the dock
and in the water.

It took rescuers about 45
minutes to extricate Bernier from
his operating cab. He was taken
to hospital in critical condition.

Bernier is now in the GF Strong
Rehabilitation Centre.

Labour Canada and Canadian
Coast Guard officials are respon-
sible for investigating, and if war-
ranted, initiating prosecution,

Tom Dufresne, president of In-
ternational Longshoremen's and
Warehousemen's Union (ILWU)
Local 500, alleges that there were
no storm brake shoes installed at
the time.

‘*Phe storm brakes would have
stopped that shiploader from col-
lapsing,"’ he said.

But said John Mackay, execu-
tive vice-president and = chief

By Michael Becker
News Reporter

operating officer at) Vancouver
Wharves, *‘The accident was at-
tributed to the high wind condi-
tions that occurred at the time —
that was it. There have been no
other developments on that matter
that I'm aware of.”

The loader was replaced at a
cost of $4 million.

But said Dufresne, **The coast
guard needs to be prodded to find
out what’s going on and to get an
investigation going, an inquiry.

‘They came out with an interim
report in January. Since the acci-
dent we've had innumerable cita-
tions written by the coast guard at
Vancouver Wharves on other
shiploaders for breakdowns, from
everything from. electrical
malfunctions to brakes malfune-
doning, general rot, deterioration
and corrosion, structural defects.”’
@ On May 14, shiploader No. 1
at Berth No. | ran away as an
Operator atrempted to load copper
concentrate into the MV. New
Opal.

The operator said he was mov-
ing the loader westward when it
failed to stop. An emergency stop
mechanism failed to stop the
loader, and he bailed out. The
boom of the loader struck the
ship.

A shift electrician heard the op-
crator’s radio distress call and
shut down the power to the
machine,

Said Dufresne, **We almost had
an operator killed because it had
an electrical malfunction.

“It’s been a series of calamities
— one after the other, and we're

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Day at the races

WEST VAN Const. Jeff Young and his three-year-old police dog Rocky go through an obstacle
course in preparation for Sunday’s 1992 Canadian Police Dog Championships at Ambleside
Park in West Vancouver. See story page 8.

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