All charges withdrawn against Stelco after 2 workers died from burns at Nanticoke, Ont., plant

The provincial Crown has withdrawn all charges against Stelco, after two workers suffered severe burns they later died from. 

All but one Ministry of Labour charge was also withdrawn against John Kenyon Ltd., the sheet metal contractor and employer of Gabriel Cabral, 32, and Sean MacPherson, 56, who were badly injured on April 25, 2023 at the Stelco Lake Erie Works plant in Nanticoke. 

At the Ontario Court of Justice in Cayuga last week, John Kenyon instead pleaded guilty to one count of failing to take every reasonable precaution to protect a worker. It was ordered to pay a $250,000 fine and 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, said the Ministry of Labour. 

John Kenyon and Stelco did not respond to CBC Hamilton's request for comment. 

Cabral's mother, Pam Fraser, said earlier this year, she was shocked to learn the Crown wasn't pursuing all the charges through a trial.

While excruciating to sit through, a trial would've meant Fraser heard evidence and testimony that would've helped her understand how 70 per cent of her son's body sustained severe burns while on the job.

"I want assurance this is not going to happen to another person or family again" Fraser said, speaking to CBC Hamilton on Friday — a few days after the court case concluded.

"I am just so angry. My son died in vain." 

Died weeks later in hospital

Cabral and MacPherson were burned by steam while repairing steel cladding on a quench tower, a structure used for cooling hot coke in the steelmaking process, their families previously told CBC Hamilton. 

John Kenyon and Stelco had each initially faced four charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act including failing to provide information, instruction and supervision to workers.

Among those withdrawn, John Kenyon had been charged with failing to provide equipment, materials and protective devices to protect workers from hot steam, and Stelco with failing to have an emergency stop device on the mogul/quench car. 

The Ministry of Labour said it could not comment on the Crown seeking a conviction on only one charge because the matter was decided by the court. 

In the hours after the incident, Cabral was in critical condition and airlifted to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, said Fraser. He had sustained third and fourth degree burns on most of his body, including on his face and lungs, was in a coma and on life support. 

Over the next three weeks, his condition worsened, Fraser said. The tips of his fingers would need to be cut off, doctors told her, and he may not be able to see again. He died on May 16, 2023 from his injuries. 

"My beautiful boy was gone," Fraser wrote in her victim impact statement read in court. "The feeling was surreal. It was over, but the horror of what had happened still remains." 

Cabral's death has devastated his two brothers, partner, and large group of friends, said Fraser. She is no longer able to work full-time and experiences difficulty sleeping, panic attacks, nightmares, regret and guilt. 

"The pain he must have been in at the moment of his accident — I relive the nightmare," Fraser said. 

MacPherson was also hospitalized at Sunnybrook's critical care burn unit for several months, but died in November 2023. His obituary said he would be "deeply missed" by his many relatives and friends.