Companies must pay five-figure sum combined
Three more British Columbia employers have been charged for fall protection violations in the workplace.
Kalan Constructions Ltd. was fined $6,122.42 for errors made while installing siding at a three-storey house under construction in Maple Ridge.
One worker was completing exterior finishing work from a manufactured scaffold system. However, the scaffold lacked guardrails and no other form of fall protection was in place, exposing the worker to a fall risk of about 6.1 m (20 ft.), according to WorkSafeBC.
“The firm failed to ensure fall protection was used, a high-risk violation. The firm also failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety. These were both repeated violations,” said the agency.
Previously, Ontario Inc. – operating as Truly Green – was fined $70,000 after one of its workers fell into a rotating shaft and suffered critical injuries.
Can Won Consulting Ltd. was also charged $2,500.00 for violations it committed while providing framing services for the construction of a residential complex in Vancouver.
WorkSafeBC found that when one worker was constructing a pony wall at the leading edge of the third level of one of the buildings, no form of fall protection was in place, exposing the worker to a fall risk of about 7.9 m (26 ft.).
The firm failed to ensure fall protection was used, a repeated and high-risk violation, according to the agency.
Previously, Performance Insulation Inc. in Manitoba was fined $15,000 for failing to avoid a fall that seriously injured one worker. The worker stepped off the edge of an unguarded stairwell and fell approximately 10.5 feet.
Being Human Framing Ltd. was also tasked to pay $2,500 for violations it committed while working on the construction of a new house in Surrey.
At that time, two of the firm’s workers were conducting framing work at the leading edge of the third floor with no form of fall protection in place.
This exposed the workers, one of whom was a representative of the firm, to a fall risk of about 6.4 m (21 ft.), according to WorkSafeBC.
“The firm failed to ensure fall protection was used, a high-risk violation. The firm also failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety. These were both repeated violations,” it said.
Rainbow Siding Ltd., Global Gutters Ltd., Online Constructors Ltd. and AM PM Landscaping & Tree Service Ltd. are also among employers previously charged for fall protection violations in the workplace.
