Firms fined a total of $55K for violations
A perennial topic in health and safety, fall protection is an important component in many industries. For those working at heights, proper fall protection is essential, as COS wrote on the topic recently.
In B.C., three firms have been fined for fall protection violations.
Top Notch Roofing, in Chilliwack, was fined $18,236.44 following an inspection by WorkSafeBC. The latter noticed that whilst the construction company was applying asphalt shingles on a new two-storey house, two workers were not using fall protection systems. This includes no toe-holds installed. WorkSafeBC determined that lack of protection exposed the workers to a fall risk of 6.1 metres (20 feet).
WorkSafeBC says that the firm “failed to ensure fall protection was used, and failed to ensure toe-holds were installed as required, both high-risk violations. The firm also failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety.”
The were all deemed to be repeated violations.
Construction firm Roy Dennis Roofing (2005) Ltd., was fined $16,964.56 for a similar offence. Indeed, WorkSafeBC inspected the firm’s worksite, a new two-storey laneway house in Vancouver, and found two workers walking along the leading edge of the roof. One of the workers, a supervisor, was not using personal fall protection systems, and there was no other form of fall protection in place. WorkSafeBC estimates that this lack of protection exposed them to a fall risk of 5.2 metres (17 feet).
The firm failed to ensure that fall protection was used, which is a high-risk violation. In addition, Roy Dennis Roofing also did not provide its workers with the information, instruction, training and supervision necessary to ensure a safe workplace. WorkSafeBC says that these were both repeated violations.
Lastly, MacBeth Roofing Corporation, in Coquitlam, was fined $20,082.60 after a WorkSafeBC inspection found that three of the firm’s workers, who were working on the flat roof of a commercial building, were not using personal fall protection systems – and no other form of fall protection was in place. This was despite the fact that the workers were leaning over the edge of the building and lifting equipment, with the workers exposed to a fall risk of 12.2 metres (40 feet).
WorkSafeBC says that “the firm failed to ensure fall protection was used, a high-risk violation, and failed to ensure a fall protection plan was in place as required. These were both repeated violations.”
