The final chapter of the 2018 Pipecon trench tragedy may be at hand, with a coronial inquiry specifically looking into the emergency services response to the deaths of the two workers.
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The Coroners Court met on Thursday to discuss an inquest into the deaths of Charlie Howkins, 34, and Jack Brownlee, 21, who were killed when a three-metre deep trench collapsed at a worksite in Winterfield Estate, Winter Valley.
The hearing was to discuss the scope and focus of further investigations into the deaths, as well as hear submissions from involved parties, such as Pipecon, representatives of the pair's families, and emergency service branches.
Coroner Leveasque Peterson said a further investigation into the deaths would not "traverse" any issues subject to previous investigations from WorkSafe and Victoria Police.
Instead, the coroner would look at the emergency services response to the trench collapse, and the subsequent recovery effort.
An investigation found Mr Howkins was killed instantly under tonnes of earth, while Mr Brownlee was trapped - and alive when he was removed from the trench.
He died in hospital the following day.
Prior to the hearing, the coroner had received submissions regarding the funding, training and provision of specialist equipment for trench recovery, however did not consider the submissions "relevant or casually proximate to the deaths in case".
Coroner Peterson said she did not believe specialist equipment was necessary for the recovery, and that Mr Howkins and Mr Brownlee were not inside the trench at the moment it collapsed.
The coroner instead sought to obtain expert opinion regarding the best practice for trench rescues, expert opinion on the rescue attempt in question, and more specifically clarification around the use of an excavator to free one of the men who were trapped.
The coroner also requested expert opinion on the forces generated by the use of an excavator in the trench rescue attempt, and what impact it may have had upon Mr Brownlee.
The hearing saw attendance from legal counsel representing the Howkins and Brownlee family, Pipecon, the CFA, the United Firefighters Union, the Victorian Workcover Authority, Fire Rescue Victoria, Ambulance Victoria and the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority.
Legal counsel for the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority sought to be excused from the inquest, as the preliminary documents from the court did not seem to relate to the group.
The matter was adjourned until September 20, with a potential inquest date posited for November.
Thursday's Coroners Court hearing came exactly a year after an earlier hearing at the court into the two deaths, which sought further statements from a pathologist regarding the deaths, WorkSafe and Victoria Police, as well as other emergency services.
At the 2022 hearing a representative from the United Firefighters Union told the court the union welcomed an opportunity to make a submission regarding rescue equipment.
"They had been pushing for better trench rescue equipment [for years]," union rep Michael Sayers said.
"They've been calling for changes and almost foresaw this."
After the trench collapse tragedy the families of the victims - Mr Howkins' wife Dr Lana Cormie, and Jack's parents Dave and Janine Brownlee - campaigned for industrial manslaughter legislation which was passed in 2019.
They also helped lobby for specialist technical rescue capabilities, which Fire Rescue Victoria assigned to Lucas fire station late last year.
Mr Brownlee and Mr Howkins' employer Pipecon was convicted and fined $550,000 in the County Court in November last year for failing to provide appropriate supervision.
The families have previously expressed their upset at the sentence.
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