Austyn Schenstead was 19 years old, a sports fan full of plans and ambitions, when he worked for his family’s construction company, installing sound barrier walls in Saskatoon.
He didn’t love the work. but got a kick out of his co-workers, his mom Rebeccah said. Her son wanted to save up some money and planned to travel to Peru with his grandfather in the near future.
But on Nov. 30, 2016, Rebeccah got news that shook her to her core. Her son had been killed on the job.
“I broke into a million pieces,” she said, reading a victim impact statement on Thursday in Saskatoon provincial court.
She spoke during the sentencing of Carmont Construction Ltd., the company her son had been working for when he was crushed by a 3,306-pound concrete panel. The company was fined $80,000 after pleading guilty to failing to make arrangements for the use, handling and transport of sound barrier panels in a manner that protects the health and safety of workers.
According to an agreed statement of facts, the panels were loaded onto a transport truck by another company and secured to a wooden cradle. The outside panel toppled off the trailer deck when Schenstead removed the last brace.
He was killed instantly.
Court exhibit photos of truck loaded with the type of sound wall that fell on 19-year-old Austyn Schenstead on Nov. 30, 2016.
Court heard Schenstead received safety training and was doing exactly what he was trained to do when the accident occurred in a back alley along the 300 block of Tache Crescent. The material in between the panels shifted during transportation and the hazard simply wasn’t recognized, Carmont’s lawyer John Agioritis told court.
He said Carmont got the company that designs the panels to build a stronger storage device since Schenstead’s death. Carmont is a small, private construction company; Schenstead was the stepson of the company’s former director, who is “deeply affected” and can no longer work, Agioritis said.
The company has had its construction safety certificate for a long time, with no prior convictions over approximately 30 years, he added.
This proves that one lapse in judgment can lead to tragedy, Judge Shannon Metivier said.
She began to cry when describing how Schenstead’s story affected her, saying that hopefully, his death will prevent future workplace fatalities.
Rebeccah said her son’s death has left her family emotionally and financially drained. Her younger children now feel anxious and sad whenever they drive by a sound wall.
When presenting the joint sentencing submission, Crown prosecutor Buffy Rodgers said the fine amount is not a value on Schenstead’s life. It’s about sending a message that “have employers sit up and listen and make their workplaces safer.”
Schenstead would want his family to stand up for him and the safety of other workers, Rebeccah told court.
“His life mattered, more than any amount of money or job in the world,” she said.
“He had the right to return home safe every night.”