A Prince Rupert boat operator has been fined $25,000 in the 2018 drowning death of a 26-year-old red urchin diver.
Andrew Connor Brown was an occupational scuba diver employed as a red sea urchin harvester with the vessel Diver City, skippered by Eric Joseph Blackburn. Also on the crew was Michael McGee, another harvester.
Prince Rupert provincial court Judge David Patterson said Blackburn, as owner and employer, and Michael Harvey Juergen Steinmann, as employer, failed to take steps to educate or properly train themselves or their employees concerning the relevant legislation and scuba practices required for a safe workplace.
“There was no education, no training, and no attention to safety in the workplace as a priority,” Patterson said. “It was a disaster waiting to happen and Connor paid the ultimate price for their failures.”
Brown, who went by his middle name, drowned one metre below the surface in the Hecate Strait on Oct. 16, 2018.
“By all accounts, Connor was an eager, energetic, empathetic, loyal and caring person,” said Patterson in his Feb. 21 decision. “He had a big grin, a keen sense of humour, and a good work ethic, he was fun to be around.”
It was McGee who found Brown unresponsive and entangled in kelp 91 minutes after Brown had entered the ocean.
His scuba equipment was only on one shoulder, consistent with a self-rescue attempt, Patterson said.
“It remains a mystery why Connor, a fully qualified occupational scuba diver, drowned at a depth of one metre, with two-thirds of the air in his tank remaining,” Patterson said. “The maximum depth on Connor's diving watch was 6.1 metres, which is shallow for scuba diving.”
An autopsy determined drowning as the cause of death.
Blackburn and McGee did not know when or for how long Brown was in distress because they were not in visual contact as required by B.C.’s occupational health and safety regulation.
Patterson said Brown had likely already drowned by the time the search for him began.
Blackburn, as Brown's diving supervisor, entered guilty pleas on May 2, 2022 to two counts:
- failing to ensure the health and safety of workers under his direct supervision as per the Workers Compensation Act; and
- failing to ensure the divers maintained constant physical or visual contact with each other as per the act’s occupational health and safety regulation.
Patterson said Blackburn admitted to failing to evaluate the hazards and to plan for the dive to address the risks. He also admitted to failing to ensure a safety system was in place to enable the immediate rescue of a diver in distress.
The judge said Blackburn has accepted responsibility and has apologized to Brown’s family.
“It is clear this tragic event has profoundly impacted Mr. Blackburn,” Patterson said.
The judge fined Blackburn $12,500 on each count and ordered him to perform 100 hours of community service.
Patterson noted Blackburn is living on his meagre Canada Pension Plan and has significant debt. He was given until 2042 to pay the fines.
