Paul Rochette's family reacts to charges against Vale

Now that a total of 17 charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act werelaid against Vale, two supervisors and a worker inthe death of an employee last year, the family of Paul Rochettehas come out swinging.

Rochette, 36, died of severe head trauma on April 6 while working at the Copper Cliff Smelter.A 28-year-old man was also injured in the same incident at the site.

• Vale, supervisors and worker charged under health and safety act

The men were working on industrial machines in the crushing and casting area, where hot metal is poured, cooled and then crushed.

"The recent news from the Ministry of Labour in regards to the charges being laid against Vale Canada Ltd. was not surprising at all.After reading the joint investigative report on the incident, it was evident Health and Safety was a complete afterthought at the Copper Cliff Smelter operations," the family stated in an email through a third party."

"This accident was absolutely preventable.Under the 'Vale'regime, production is paramount and safety protocols are just a suggestion. Vale's enforcement of safety procedures is comical. For a multi-billion dollar company, they should be ashamed.

"The one year anniversary of the accident is right around the corner. For Vale, it will be business as usual. For our family though, it will be another reminder of the senseless loss of life on April 6, 2014."

In court June 12

The Ministry of Labour said nine charges have been laid against Vale.

A total of five charges were laid against two supervisors EricLabelleand GlennMunroand three charges have also been laid against a worker, Greg Taylor.

The ministry said a first appearance is scheduled at the Ontario Court of Justice in Sudbury on June 12.

In a previous statement, the company said it is reviewing the charges.

It added following the tragedy, a joint team of representatives from Vale and the workers' unioncompleted a comprehensive investigation to try and understand what went wrong.

Based on the findings, the company said 58 recommendations were put forward with a view to preventing a similar incident from happening again. Vale added most of the short to medium-term items have been addressed and completed, and work is underway regarding longer term systemic solutions.