Company fined in worker’s 2022 death

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This article was published 29/05/2025 (309 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Brandon plumbing company was sentenced to pay $7,500 after one of its employees died on the job after inhaling toxic fumes in 2022.

Lockhart Plumbing & Heating pleaded guilty in Brandon provincial court on Wednesday for failing to provide proper workplace safety training after the death of 29-year-old Jordan Old, a red-seal plumber.

An autopsy revealed that Old went into cardiac arrest after inhaling hydrogen sulfide (H2S).

Tyler Warburton, director of the company, sat beside defence lawyer Maria Grande with tears in his eyes as she read the agreed statement of facts.

On Oct. 19, 2022, Old responded to a call from a homeowner in Brandon’s west end who reported a possible blockage causing a sewer smell in the home. She told Old that she thought the smell was coming from a blocked vent in the kitchen.

Old worked on the vent, and after a while told the owner he believed he cleared the blockage.

He was preparing to leave when the owner told him she saw a puddle by the washing machine in the basement and asked him to inspect it.

They ran the washing machine to test the drain, and while it was running, the sewer smell worsened.

Old went to the nearby floor drain, opened it up, and vacuumed the blackish water that was inside. He then grabbed a bottle of drain cleaner called Thermakem from his work vehicle and poured it into the drain.

He tried to use a drain snake but was unsuccessful. He left the home at about 11:30 a.m. to get a different drain cleaning product, which he said he would leave in the drain overnight.

Old returned at around 1 p.m. with a drain cleaner called Strike. He poured half of the bottle down the drain. As Old talked with the homeowner, she said they noticed a whiteish blue vapour cloud rising from the drain, Grande said.

The owner went upstairs to answer a phone call. While she was upstairs, she heard a noise coming from the basement. She went down to check on Old and saw him unconscious and face-down on the floor. She called 911.

EMS arrived but did not enter the home as they noticed a strong odour and didn’t have proper safety equipment.

At around 1:47 p.m., Brandon Fire and Emergency Services gained access to the home with proper breathing apparatus and retrieved Old.

The BFES multi-gas monitor showed that the H2S level was at 90.6 parts per million when they initially entered. At 3 p.m. it went down to 27.8 ppm, and by 4:15 p.m. the level was recorded to be 0.5 ppm, which is a safe and acceptable level, Grande said.

Old did not regain consciousness and was pronounced brain-dead. His family made the decision to end life-sustaining measures, and he was pronounced dead on Oct. 27, 2022.

An autopsy completed on Nov. 1, 2022 concluded that Old had gone into cardiac arrest because of the high levels of H2S.

The Workplace Safety and Health office said the source of the H2S gas was likely due to mixing the drain cleaners.

Following the incident, Lockhart enlisted a chemist who conducted an experiment by mixing the two chemical drain cleaners. He concluded that mixing the cleaners did not produce the formation of H2S that killed Old.

Crown attorney Shaun Sass brought Judge Patrick Sullivan’s attention to Old’s parents, who sat in the gallery. He said that although they didn’t provide a victim impact statement, the loss of their son has had an enormous impact on their lives.

“They are left with no answers,” he said. “It’s fair to say they are extremely frustrated and angry with Workplace Safety and Health and their investigation results.”

He said one of the main issues in the case is the drain cleaners. Lockhart regularly uses Strike, but investigators determined that Thermakem is not a product the company normally used. Old had got it from another worksite.

“With that being said, we have the chemist report that just the two of those chemicals combined do not create the H2S that resulted in Mr. Old’s death,” said Sass.

While Workplace Safety didn’t do the actual testing, Sass said they gave some hypotheticals. It said that the H2S could have been a result of a number of different materials mixing in the drain.

Grande said Old was not just one of Warburton’s employees, but also a friend. She said the team of four at the time were a tight-knit family. When Sullivan gave Warburton the chance to speak, he only had one thing to say.

“I just miss my buddy.”

Grande said Lockhart has prepared workplace policies and improved safety training, including critical task procedures and job hazard analysis, all of which has been shared with Workplace Safety.

“Jordan was not just a worker, an employee, but a family friend who shared many times with Tyler and his family,” Grande said. “Lockhart appreciates that no amount of fine will replace the loss of Jordan, nor the pain or suffering that has been endured by his parents, family and friends.”

Sullivan ultimately accepted the lawyers’ joint recommendation of a $5,000 fine with an additional penalty of $2,500 to address the public on matters of Workplace Safety and Health.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com