Engineer who drowned on the job would still be alive if rules were followed, Crown says

Closing arguments are expected to wrap up on Wednesday in Halifax in the case of an engineer who died at a Nova Scotia Power reservoir three years ago.

Nova Scotia Power is one of three companies facing numerous charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in connection to the death of 26-year-old Andrew Gnazdowksy on Oct. 16, 2020. 

Brunswick Engineering and Gemtec Consulting, both sub-contractors hired by Nova Scotia Power, have also been charged.

Gnazdowksy drowned while trying to retrieve a piece of floating surveying equipment that had malfunctioned in the reservoir of the utility's hydroelectric system in Sheet Harbour.

He was helping a colleague conduct a bathymetric survey — a type of underwater mapping — using a piece of equipment that was controlled remotely and floated on the surface of the water. The two of them had travelled from Saint John to collect data at the dam. Gnazdowksy was living in Rothesay, N.B., at the time.

Crown attorney Alex Keaveny argued on Friday that Gnazdowsky's death was preventable. He said the companies involved failed to ensure protection from the risk of drowning by not following provincial regulations or their own policies. 

Keaveny suggests the parties involved didn't have a proper plan or recovery equipment on site, such as a boat. 

"If the rules were followed, Andrew would still be here," Keaveny told the courtroom. 

Brunswick Engineering, Gnazdowsky's employer, is facing five charges in total. 

It's accused of failing to ensure a life jacket or personal flotation devices were being used and failing to provide rescue equipment in a workplace where there was a risk of drowning, among other safety code violations. 

The lawyer for Brunswick Engineering says Gnazdowsky was told by his supervisor to wait for a personal floatation device before going into the water, but he didn't listen.

Brian Casey said on Friday that Gnazdowzky had to have known the company's policy against going into the water without a PFD before arriving on site that day.

He said it made no sense for the employee to go into the water because it wasn't urgent to retrieve the equipment.

The courtroom also heard that Brunswick Engineering president Stephen Perry previously swam to retrieve the same piece of equipment after it malfunctioned during a project at a different site. Perry was wearing a PFD at the time.

Nova Scotia Power is facing five charges, including that it failed to ensure employees of Brunswick Engineering were wearing life jackets or that it had the required rescue equipment.

The utility's lawyer agreed with Casey that the tragedy was the result of a bad decision by Gnazdowsky.

Stan MacDonald says Gnazdowsky had to take several safety tests administered by Nova Scotia Power before the project started and he should have known not only that he wasn't supposed to go in the water but that it was unnecessary. 

Gemtec Consulting is accused of failing to review the safety plan for the reservoir with employees and failing to ensure the plan was adequate.

Brad Proctor, who is representing Gemtec Consulting, says most of the charges against his client are unrealistic because the company, in the capacity of a subcontractor, cannot be responsible for ensuring safety policies of other companies are adequate and their employees are properly trained.

Gemtec is facing six charges in total and Proctor argues four of them should be dismissed because they treat Gemtec as the employer. 

Gnazdowsky's family was sitting in the front row in the Nova Scotia Provincial Court room on Friday for the start of closing arguments.

Nicole Gnazdowsky, Andrew's sister, says the loss of her brother has left the New Brunswick family broken. 

"It's destroyed us," she said in an interview. "We were a family of four and now we're a family of three. That's a pretty dramatic shift."