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A coroner’s inquest will be held next week in Saint John into the death of a Saskatchewan man at a job site in New Brunswick a year and a half ago.
Matthew Barun, 46, of Regina died on July 18, 2024, in a workplace accident at a construction site where wind turbines were being erected in the Springdale area, east of Sussex.
Brawn, a pilot truck driver for Richards Transport Ltd. in Regina, was unloading a wind turbine tower at the Neweg Energy Project in Springdale when he was “fatally crushed,” according to a WorkSafeNB investigative report obtained by CBC News last year.
He was run over trying to stop a runaway trailer, known as a dolly, which came detached from an off-road forklift at the site. The six-axle dolly had a gross weight of more than 27,000 kilograms.
Windturbine Construction Team Inc., the company responsible for installing the turbines, was charged with two counts under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, following an investigation by WorkSafeNB.
The company was charged with failing to ensure an industrial lift truck was not loaded beyond its capacity and with failing to ensure an industrial lift truck was used only for the purpose for which it was designed.
Brawn’s sister, Erinn-Jane Brawn, described him as someone who would do anything for anyone, and said last year that a court-imposed $25,000 fine on one of the companies involved was a “slap in the face.”
A news release from the province on Thursday said regional coroner Danny Mallet and a jury will hear evidence surrounding Brawn’s death. The inquest is scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
A coroner’s inquest cannot make any findings of legal responsibility for a death but can make non-binding recommendations to prevent similar accidents.