An injury involving a man falling on the Ironmaster barge at Purvis Marine is now under Ministry of Labour investigation, says a platoon chief with Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services.
The fire department attended the scene on the 338-foot barge docked at the waterfront mid-afternoon in an effort to rescue the injured man.
“He had a fall up on the barge,” said platoon chief Jeff Lajoie at the scene.
A roll-up stretcher was deployed to hoist the injured man.
“We use a block and tackle (and) roll-up stretcher, which kind of packages him nice and small,” said Lajoie.
The man was alive and conscious when taken from the deck of the barge by stretcher and placed into a waiting ambulance, said the platoon chief.
“I don’t know the extent of his injuries,” said Lajoie.
Firefighters checked the environmental air quality of the inside of the vessel but found no cause for concern.
“We always have to be ready for the unknown,” said lajoie.
Some of the 13 firefighters on scene were fitted with a harness for safety, said Lajoie.
The injured man was a worker, said Lajoie and the incident is now considered under investigation by the Ministry of Labour (MOL).
No one was available to make comment at Purvis Marine when called shortly after 5 p.m.
Investigators with the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service were on scene, as was a police forensics unit van.
A spokesperson for city police said the investigators found the incident to be a workplace injury and not suspicious in nature before handing the investigation over to the MOL.
