The general contractor responsible for the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital in Saskatoon is speaking out against an equipment supplier that is on trial for the death of a young worker at the site.

Eric Ndayishimiye, 21, was labouring at the hospital project on July 21, 2016, when another nearby worker moved a 1,200-pound table cart by himself. The trolley fell and hit Ndayishimiye, who died shortly after in hospital.

Two Calgary-based companies are being tried in the judge-only trial:

Pilosio Canada Inc., the supplier of the table cart, is charged with failing to ensure the equipment was safe when used with instructions.

Banff Constructors Ltd. — a subcontractor to the general contractor on the site, Graham Construction — is charged with failing to ensure the use, handling and transport of equipment was done "in a manner that protects the health and safety of workers," as well as not providing instruction, training and supervision necessary to protect Ndayishimiye's health.

Graham Construction is not on trial. But on Thursday, Graham Construction provided CBC News with a statement after the lawyer for Pilosio Canada questioned in court why Graham Construction is not also on the list of accused.

"We have this missing link that's not involved here," said Jonathan Frustaglio, the lawyer for Pilosio Canada, on Wednesday.

There will be no dedicated mental health beds at the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital when it opens in Saskatoon next year. (SRC)

Frustaglio added that after Pilosio Canada directly supplied the table cart to Graham Construction, Graham Construction then passed it on to Banff Constructors "without the knowledge or consent of Pilosio."

On Thursday, Graham Construction fired back through its statement to CBC News.

"The Crown would have carefully considered the issue of potential responsibility for the accident and concluded there was no reasonable prospect of conviction in the case of Graham," the statement read. "Quite sensibly [the Crown] has focused principally on Pilosio as the manufacturer of a manifestly faulty product, a product we believe they have now removed from distribution in Canada."

The statement continued: "Once all of the evidence is heard and tested, including expert evidence, Graham is confident that the merits of the Crown's decision not to proceed against Graham will be obvious."

Supplier says it warned Graham about two-man rule

A former salesperson for Pilosio Canada took to the witness stand Thursday.

Joey Yusefawich said that after Ndayishimiye's death, he was asked by a senior official at Graham Construction if the table cart would be taken out of circulation.

"Since we only had four carts [out] at the time and no [other[ jobs that were going to be using these carts, I told him that until the investigation is done, we would remove them from circulation," Yusefawich said.

Frustaglio then cross-examined Yusefawich, who said that Pilosio Canada warned Graham Construction before construction at the children's hospital started that the table cart always required at least two construction workers to move it.

"Twelve-hundred pounds is no joke when that has some momentum," Yusefawich said of the table cart.

"It was always a two-man crew," echoed Maurice Murphy, a labour foreman who helped pull the table cart off of Ndayishimiye.

Construction workers at the Jim Pattison Children's Hospital site in July 2016 look as a forensic officer photographs the scene where Eric Ndayishimiye was injured by a falling construction lift, seen upturned here. The hammer Ndayishimiye was holding can also be seen. (Saskatoon Police Service/court exhibit)

On Monday, the trial heard that a lone worker, Gerard McLaren, moved the table cart, which fell and struck Ndayishimiye, who was working nearby.

Asked by Judge Brent Klause if McLaren would be testifying during the trial, Crown attorney Buffy Rodgers said McLaren was living in Ireland and not co-operating with Crown prosecutors.

No on-site demonstration at Children's Hospital: witness

Yusefawich said Pilosio Canada had supplied the same type of table cart to Graham Construction at a hospital project in Grande Prairie, Alberta, one year before, and that Pilosio Canada had provided an on-site demonstration of how to operate the table cart.

Graham Construction did not request such a demonstration at the Children's Hospital site in Saskatoon, Yusefawich said.

One diagram provided to Graham Construction did illustrate one person on each side of the trolley, Yusefawich said.

Cart instructions questioned

Banff Constructors has its own lawyer, David Myrol, arguing a separate defence during the trial.

During his cross-examination of Yusefawich, Myrol focused on the quality of the written instructions Pilosio Canada gave Graham Construction regarding how the table cart was to be operated. The instructions, which were in English, came from Pilosio's Italian parent company, which manufactured the table cart.

Yusefawich acknowledged that some diagrams included only one operator and that none of the literature made it explicitly clear that the trolley was be moved by two people. One such instruction told users, "Operate the two telescopic devices uniformly."

Yusefawich said physical demonstrations of equipment tend to register better with construction workers.

Myrol also mentioned the diagram for a similar table cart made by a competitor of Pilosio Canada's. The competitor's cart featured an extra pin for stabilizing the trolley. Myrol said he would elaborate on the significance of that pin later on in the trial.

Graham Construction's statement began by extending the company's sympathy to the Ndayishimiye family, which has largely absented itself from the trial this week.

"Graham places the highest value on safety, and the death of Eric resonates deeply within the Graham family. Without a doubt, this trial is a difficult time for the family."

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues Friday. Four construction workers are expected to testify.