Snowcat breaks through ice, temporarily stalls N.W.T. remediation project

An inspector says an accident involving a piece of heavy equipmentcould have been avoided if the operator had been more observant.

On Jan. 21 asnowcat clearing way for an ice road near Yellowknife broke through ice, temporarily delaying a mine remediation project. Nobody was hurt in theincident, which stalled the project for a day.

The snowcatwent through on a small pondnear Davidson Lake, approximately one hour east of Yellowknife near the Bullmoose-Ruth remediation project a collection of seven former gold exploration and mine sites that operated intermittently between the 1940s and 1980s.

Clint Ambrose, an inspector with the Department of Lands for the North Slave region, said the cause of the accident won't be determined until an incident report is filed later this week.

He did say early indications show extra weight added by water pooling above the ice could have been a contributing factor.

Ambrose said as soon as the operator saw the pooling water, he should have stopped.

"It's one of the unfortunate incidents with the operator," he said. "He made an error and that's what led to the incident."

The plan now is to wait for the ice to thicken around the submerged snowcat, so other machinery can safely remove it from the ice.

The ice had been inspected by the department three days prior to the break.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada is in charge of the project, and contracted Rowe's Construction for the work.

The department's project manager, Ron Breadmore, said the incident is being investigated internally.

He said no disciplinary action is being considered at this pointbecause his team is still gathering data to determine whether all safe ice construction guidelines were followed.

These guidelines make up part of the health and safety plan Rowe's Construction has submitted to the Workers' Safety and Compensation Commission (WSCC), according to Breadmore.

The federal government also has an internal requirement to make sure requirements of the contract are met. This includes information on ice profiling a process used to assess how thick the ice is.

The WSCC confirmed it conducted an incident review.

Not the 1st incident

This is not the first time Rowe's Construction has had safety issues.

In 2015the WSCC handed Rowe's a $40,000 fine after a worker was seriously injured while constructing an ice road.

In 2008, the company was fined $90,000 in relation to the death of worker Alex Cazon after the hatch of a sewage truck blew open, striking him in the head. In a plea bargain with the Crown, the company admitted it didn't properly train Cazon.

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Breadmore said his department is not responsible for checking the safety history companies bidding for contracts. That work is done through Public Services and Procurement Canada through a "rigorous bid evaluation process."

A manager at Rowe's Construction deferred to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada when asked for comment.