Worker, on first day of job, fell into deep end of empty pool
Three employers are facing fines after workers were hurt in the workplace.
The Town of Picture Butte in Alberta has been tasked with paying $30,000 in favour of the Alberta Municipal Health and Safety Association (AMHSA) for an aquatic safety awareness campaign aimed at municipalities, and to pay $57,000 to Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS) air ambulance.
This is after a junior lifeguard on their first day at work sustained serious injuries. The worker fell a distance of three metres into the deep end of the empty pool basin at the Cor Van Raay Community and Recreation Centre in the Town of Picture Butte.
“Town of Picture Butte pled guilty to Section 139(1)(a) of the OHS Code for failing to ensure that a worker was protected from falling at a temporary or permanent work area where the worker could fall a vertical distance of three metres or more,” according to the provincial government.
All other charges were withdrawn.
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Meanwhile, British Columbia employer Vitacore Industries Inc. – which operates a surgical mask and respirator manufacturing facility – must pay $13,154.99.
This was after a worker was injured while adjusting material between two unguarded rollers of a mask manufacturing machine.
WorkSafeBC inspected the workplace and found two mask manufacturing machines that did not have safeguards. Both had several unguarded points of operation, including rotating feed rollers, accessible gears and sprockets, and exposed running belts.
“The firm failed to ensure that every gear and chain sprocket was completely enclosed and failed to ensure rotating parts exposed to contact by workers were guarded,” said WorkSafeBC. “These were both repeated violations.”
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Also, Young Energyserve Inc. – another B.C. firm – was fined $2,500 for a worker injury.
This firm was conducting maintenance on an amine tower at a natural gas facility on the day of the incident.
While workers were hoisting a metal panel, it fell and seriously injured a worker below.
WorkSafeBC's investigation found that the employer did not conduct a hazard assessment for the work process of hoisting materials over workers. Also, the company did not inspect the synthetic rope used in the hoist, which had deficiencies, before use.
Lastly, the shackle that was attached to the larger panels did not indicate the working load limit and there was no evidence it had been certified by a professional engineer.
“The firm failed to ensure rigging materials met regulatory requirements. The firm also failed to ensure the health and safety of all workers at its worksite,” according to WorkSafeBC. “These were both high-risk violations.”
