Company that employed apprentice plumber killed in Calgary trench collapse charged with 11 safety offences
CBC
The Calgary company that employed a 27-year-old apprentice plumber who died after he was buried in a collapsed trench at a work site two years ago faces 11 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Liam Johnston was killed in June 2023 while doing sewer repairs in the northwest community of Charleswood.
Johnston worked for Mr. Mike's Plumbing at the time.
The charges against the company include failing to ensure worker safety, failing to stabilize an excavation site by shoring and failing to ensure a worker is protected from cave-ins at an excavation site.
"Finally something is happening," said Johnston's mother Kim Ivison.
Another of the charges alleges Mr. Mike's identified a hazard the day before the fatal incident yet failed to take measures to eliminate the safety concern.
Johnston's parents say that charge, in particular, makes them feel "angry and sick."
"It shouldn't have happened," said stepdad Adam Groves.
The company is due in court to face the charges on July 22.
The Calgary Police Service conducted its own investigation. A spokesperson for CPS said this week that the file is currently with the Alberta Crown Prosecutions Service for review.
Both of Johnston's parents say they're angry and frustrated with the system; it's been nearly two years since Johnston was killed.
"It's very slow and it's very non-transparent," says Ivison.
Liam's girlfriend at the time, Emily Gofton, says she has mixed emotions about the charges being laid.
"It's exciting, overwhelming. It's triggering, it makes us angry all over again. But we're just so happy to finally see some movement on this," she said.
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