Union Gas reviewing policies in light of sand pile death

Union Gas will be reviewing its construction policies in light of an accident which left an 11-year-old North Bay boy dead.

Mathieu Renaud, of Gormanville Road, died Monday morning when a metre-high sand pile he was playing in across the street from his home collapsed, asphyxiating him.

Extremly seriously
The pile was one of two belonging to Union Gas, said district manager Doug French, and was being used for maintenance work on Gormanville Road.

French said the utility takes the incident “extremely seriously.”

“We have the deepest sympathy for the Renaud family and consider this to be a terrible tragedy,” French said, “and we are cooperating fully with the Ministry of Labour and the North Bay Police Service and providing any information they require for their investigations.”

The sand piles were removed, French added, “out of respect for the family.”

Any issues
Piling sand on a job site is a “standard” construction practice, French said, “and there’s a lot of material piled up at construction sites around town.”

French wasn’t aware of any barricades or fencing blocking off the sand pile from public access, he said.

“We will wait and see what the outcomes of the investigations are and deal with any issues that result,” French said.

“Again, this is a terrible tragedy, and something we wish would never have happened. But hindsight is 20/20 and we will review our construction practices and follow any recommendations which come forward.”

Investigation continues
Belinda Sutton, spokeswoman for the Labour Ministry, said its role will be to determine if Union Gas had been in compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the regulations for construction projects at the time of the incident.”

“Our investigation continues,” she said, adding no determinations have been made yet regarding Union Gas.