Brody Huizenga was about 30 seconds away from being inside a North Burnaby trench in October 2012 when a retaining wall collapsed into it, killing 28-year-old pipe layer Jeff Caron and injuring his co-worker Thomas Richer.
Huizenga was in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Monday to testify at the trial of his former employer, J. Cote and Son Excavating Ltd. and company foreman David Green.
J. Cote is on trial for criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing injury.
Green faces the additional charge of manslaughter.
Both pleaded not guilty at the beginning of their trial last Monday.
'A scar that will be forever with me'
On Oct, 11, 2012, Huizenga said he got into the trench at J. Cote's storm- and sewer-line project behind Edinburgh Street after a morning coffee break to help Caron and Richer deal with a faulty cut-off saw.
He grabbed the saw and got back out of the trench, which he said was "vertically cut" and "right alongside" a retaining wall.
Thirty seconds after he left the trench, the wall collapsed, hitting Richer and pinning Caron, he said.
Huizenga said Green "immediately" told him to go get another heavy machine operator over with an excavator to help lift the wall off Caron.
Within a few minutes, he said two excavators lifted the wall, and Caron slid into the trench.
"I seen the wall lift off of him … He was awake, and I seen his lights go out," Huizenga told a WorkSafeBC investigator in October 2012, according to a transcript read out in court.
Huizenga told the court he tries not to look back on that day.
"It's definitely a scar that will be forever with me, and it took a long time to get over it," he said.
Huizenga's testimony about Green's behaviour after the wall collapsed contrasted Richer's account.
Richer told the court last week that he had had to take charge of the situation and tell Green to call 911 as Green was running away from the scene.
Huizenga told the court Green had immediately told him to get the second excavator and that Green was already on the phone at that time.
Later, he said Green sent him to direct emergency crews into the site.
Safety changes
The Edinburgh Street project shut down for five or six months after the accident, according to Huizenga.
Crown prosecutor Emmanuelle Rouleau asked if he noticed any steps J. Cote had taken to "ensure safety differently" when he returned, and he said yes.
He said there were more toolbox talks and the company had an orientation packet, including information on hazard identification.
When he started at the company two-and-a-half years before the wall collapse, he said he didn't get a safety orientation or any materials outlining safety guidelines.
Huizenga said safety issues were discussed but in an informal, "hands-on" way, and when his foreman or Green had toolbox talks, workers didn't have to sign off on what had been discussed.
Green's lawyer, Joe Saulnier suggested what had changed after the accident was a matter of paperwork.
"Is it fair to say that there were toolbox meetings both before and after the accident, but afterwards the paperwork might have been a little different?" he asked.
"Yeah," Huizenga said. "There was more documents after the fact."
J. Cote's lawyer, Bill Smart took Huizenga through his interview with WorkSafeBC in October 2012.
In it, Huizenga said there had been another retaining wall "further down the line" that he and an excavator operator had dismantled, but no one had raised concerns about the wall that collapsed.
"I didn't have any safety concerns about the project," Huizenga stated in the transcript. "Like, when I went in the ditch … I didn't feel any different than any other time."
In court, Smart asked Huizenga if his answers to WorkSafeBC had been accurate.
"Yes," Huizenga said.
The trial is expected to continue Tuesday.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
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