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Fort St. John firm fined $150,000 for worker's serious injury

WorkSafeBC issues fines for safety-related infractions
Lumberjack
WorkSafeBC fined a Fort St. John company $150

A recently closed Fort St. John company has been fined $150,000 by WorkSafeBC for a high-risk violation that left a worker with serious injuries.

Continental Pipeline and Facility, which works in the oil and gas pipeline industry, was moving a tanker truck down a steep grade in a remote location with the help of a bulldozer when the accident occurred near Fort St. John, according to a recently published WorkSafeBC report.

The worker was injured when he became caught between the step frame and the tracks of the moving bulldozer.

“The firm had not analyzed the risks posed by the work activity, nor implemented safe work procedures for it,” the report said. “This was a high-risk violation.”

In other WorkSafeBC enforcements:

• Two firms were fined a total of $5,750 for a fatal incident at a work site in Pemberton.

B Ford Falling was fined $3,250 and Rubicon Timber was fined $2,500 following a WorkSafeBC investigation.

A felled tree was sliding down a slope in a remote area when a worker was either hit by the tree, or an object dislodged by it, the report said. The worker died.

“WorkSafeBC’s investigation found that the firm had placed the worker in a location where the worker was endangered by other fallers’ work,” the report said of B Ford Falling.

• A motel in Prince George was fined $36,570.48 after WorkSafeBC identified several safety violations.

A worksite inspection found that staff who were working alone at night were required to enter guest rooms to address disturbances and altercations.

“The employer did not perform a risk assessment or establish procedures and policies to eliminate or otherwise minimize the risk to workers,” WorkSafeBC said on its website.

Other violations included a failure to address concerns in a reasonable time about inadequate lighting in stairwells, basements and other areas of the motel.

• Port Hardy’s Precise Contract Falling was fined $2,500 for a high-risk violation in connection with an incident that claimed the life of a faller.

WorkSafeBC’s investigation found the company did not provide sufficient supervision to the faller, who had only recently been certified.

• Also fined for workers failing to use fall-protection equipment were: Atlantic Construction ($4,090.70) for an infraction in Kitimat; Besthaus Custom Homes ($2,500) for a violation in West Vancouver; AJ Framing ($3,012.87) for a violation in Burnaby; and Blue Sparrow Construction ($2,500) for an infraction in Burnaby.