The coroner's inquest into the fatal Lakeland Mills sawmill explosion is set to resume Monday morning after counsel was given more than a month to review new information.
The inquest halted in late March when coroner's counsel John Orr learned WorkSafeBC had declined information from the sawmill's private investigators for its report.
Orr asked for more time to look over that investigation and questioned why he found out about it during the inquest, rather than having it disclosed before.
When the inquest resumes, the lead investigator for the forensic engineering firm for the Lakeland investigation is expected to testify, as are several senior WorkSafe personnel including former CEO David Anderson.
Both WorkSafeBC and Lakeland officials have said the investigation would not have significantly changed the agency's conclusions about the cause of the explosion.
The United Steelworkers has called for a public inquiry and withdrew from the inquiry shortly after its Western Canada director, Stephen Hunt, completed his testimony.
The inquest has heard from 47 witnesses over two-and-a-half weeks, beginning with the widows of Al Little and Glenn Roche, who died from the extensive burns they suffered in the April 23, 2012 blast. Many of the 22 wounded faced serious injuries.
As employees took the stand, the inquest heard about a "near miss" three months before. In the days following the January 2012 incident, Little, a supervisor at the sawmill, twice stopped production to have trouble areas cleaned up. Yet an internal report apparently authored by Little on what happened never made it to upper management and the incident was never reported to Prince George Fire Rescue because no one was hurt and there was no structural damage.
The inquest was first expected to wrap up by March 20, but was soon extended after it became clear witnesses would be subject to extensive questioning from lawyers representing the coroner, USW, WorkSafeBC, Lakeland and, to a lesser extent, the B.C. Safety Authority.
