WorkSafeBC’s investigation into a fatal crash last week involving a runaway dump truck could take up to a year.
But the provincial workplace safety authority has released some information about the accident, saying the articulated rock truck rolled over its operator, later identified on social media as 32-year-old Maple Ridge resident Bobby Vanderhoef, after he parked the vehicle on an incline.
The truck eventually rolled onto Lougheed Highway, where it crashed into several vehicles, killing a woman in her 60s and injuring four others.
“The investigation is ongoing and could take anywhere from a few months to a year,” said Gillian Burnett, government and media relations officer with WorkSafeBC. “When it has been completed, there will be a detailed incident investigation report that determines cause and prevention.”
In the meantime, WorkSafeBC has outlined several requirements M2K Construction must comply with before hauling can commence on the site. The inspection report said the equipment manufacturer’s operating and maintenance instructions must be provided and the company must demonstrate safe work procedures for the site and training records for the new operator.
Burnett said the requirements are standard procedure following serious workplace injuries or deaths.
The crash occurred shortly after 3:30 p.m. last Wednesday near Pitt River Road in front of the Riverview Hospital grounds, where witnesses said a large dump truck rolled down the hill from a work site above. Someone tried to stop the truck but was run over before the rig careened onto the Lougheed, according to people at the scene.
Coquitlam RCMP confirmed that the dump truck was unoccupied when it struck the highway traffic and the operator.
Vanderhoef was a former Pinetree secondary student who was recently married and expecting a baby. His wife, Amanda Vanderhoef, said on Facebook that receiving the call about the incident was “the worst thing I have ever been through.”
“I want you to come back to me,” she posted Wednesday afternoon. “We are suppose to raise this baby together as a team. I don’t know how I am going to go on without.”
