A coroner’s inquest examines the 2024 death of Matthew Brawn, a Regina man killed in a workplace accident at a Springdale wind farm construction site
Coroner’s Inquest into Saskatchewan Man’s Death Begins
A coroner’s inquest into the 2024 death of a Saskatchewan man has begun. The man was working at a wind farm construction site in New Brunswick.
Matthew Brawn was killed on July 18, 2024, after a workplace accident while erecting wind turbines in the Springdale area of Kings Rural District.
Regional coroner Danny Mallet and a jury heard that the 46-year-old Regina man was a pilot truck driver for Richards Transport Ltd. He was unloading a wind turbine tower at the Neweg Energy Project.
According to WorkSafeNB, Brawn was “run over by a Dolly Snappel trailer, a specialized heavy-duty transport trailer designed to move extremely large, heavy and irregularly shaped cargo.”
Company Guilty of Safety Violation
Woodturbine Construction Team Inc. pleaded guilty to a charge under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in January 2025. The company failed to ensure that an industrial lift truck was not loaded beyond its capacity. It was fined $25,000 plus a $5,000 victim surcharge.
Details of the Inquest
The two-day coroner’s inquest is examining how the accident happened and what safety measures were in place. Five witnesses were questioned on the first day, including WorkSafeNB investigator Michael Cyr. He pointed to unsafe equipment use as the leading cause of Brawn’s death.
The inquest heard that the equipment used that day included a truck, dolly, and a telehandler, which is a heavy-duty machine with a telescopic boom. The jury learned that the dolly trailer should ideally be moved using a truck. However, Brawn used a telehandler to move the rear part of the trailer.
WorkSafeNB stated that this task was outside of Brawn’s role, but employees consistently performed it. Cyr noted that the telehandler forklift had a towing capacity of 1,000 kilograms, which is far below the 27,000-kilogram load it was attempting to move.
This task had also been completed using a pickup truck at times. While the jury cannot assign blame, it aims to suggest changes to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The inquest is expected to conclude Tuesday afternoon.
| Date | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| July 18, 2024 | Accident | Matthew Brawn killed at wind farm site |
| January 2025 | Company Plea | Woodturbine Construction Team Inc. pleads guilty |
| February 2025 | Inquest Start | Coroner’s inquest into Brawn’s death begins |
