Coroner calls inquest into Copper Cliff smelter death

Sudbury's supervising coroner is calling an inquest into the 2014 death of a worker at Vale's smelter in Copper Cliff.

36-year-old Paul Rochette was killed on April 6, 2014, when a rock crusher, used in the first stages of the refining process, became jammed with a broken-off steel moil point (a pointed tool) inside the crusher.

• Paul Rochette, 36, dies in Vale Sudbury smelter incident

After Rochette and a co-worker attempted to free the moil point, the fragment propelled vertically toward the two workers, killing Rochette and injuring his co-worker.

An inquest is mandatory under the Coroners Act, and will examine the circumstances surrounding Rochette's death. The jury may then make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths.

The inquest is expected to last five days and hear from approximately 13 witnesses.

The inquest will begin on January 22 at the Sudbury City Courthouse.

Vale pleaded guilty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and was fined $1 million by Ontario's Ministry of Labour in October, 2016, a decision that Rochette's family called "gutless."

• Vale's $1M fine 'horrible, gutless decision' says smelter worker's family
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