Worker dead after being crushed during Truro, N.S. home renovation

A man died on Wednesday after being crushed by a concrete wall during a home renovation in Truro, N.S., according to public officials.

“He was not conscious when we arrived,” Truro Fire Service Chief Blois Currie said on Thursday.

Firefighters were called to a home on Prince Street near Wood Street at approximately 2 p.m., on Wednesday.

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“They were doing renovations on the house,” said Currie. “The basement wall had fallen.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They were doing renovations on the house," said Currie. "The basement wall had fallen."

The wall was about 6′ by 20′, and it trapped the man against a bank adjacent to the home, he added.

Nova Scotia’s Occupational Health and Safety Division issued a stop-work order at the site, and its investigation is underway.

He said that the name and the age of the worker, among other details about the case, won’t be released.

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“If the employer is deemed responsible, there can be a fine issued,” Nauss said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "If the employer is deemed responsible, there can be a fine issued," Nauss said.

There have been cases in which employers went to jail for safety violations, he added.

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Last year, there were two acute fatalities in Nova Scotia workplaces. So far this year, there have been four.

Damon Alcock, chief safety services officer at Construction Safety Nova Scotia (CSNS), said there are issues specific to the residential home building and renovation sector.

“They represent about 12 per cent of the payroll in construction, but they’re having 22 per cent of all the injuries in our industry,” he said in the association’s Dartmouth office.

CSNS is working with industry and government organizations to develop a strategy for employers and employees in the sector to make things safer.

The rollout for that strategy is set for early next year.