Sign in
Registration
A trucking company was fined $2,500 for “high-risk” violations after cinder block pillars intended for a cell house broke, sending it to the ground and fatally trapping an employee in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia.
The penalty, imposed on Knightly Mobile Haulers Ltd. on July 4, 2023, but released last week, came after three workers with the company attempted to place a mobile home into position on a residential lot in the Vancouver Island community.
On February 9, 2022, at approximately 8 a. m. , the company’s foreman assessed the location and then met with the truck driver and employee where the space was stored. Aside from a few loose coats, everything appeared to be in good condition, according to a WorkSafeBC inspection report.
Workers placed the cell house on an eight-wheeled cart and towed it to the residential lot for installation. Once there, they lifted the 20-meter, 10,000-kilogram space up to 4 meters off the ground and placed cement block pillars for construction. the structure.
Shortly before 2:00 p. m. , the truck driver straightened out a plastic sheet underneath the enlarged space when he moved unexpectedly. The cats and some cinder block pillars broke and tipped over. The space fell to the ground, trapping the truck driver.
The foreman and labourer tried to jack up the home, but it wasn’t until firefighters arrived and used air bags that the driver was freed. The worker did not survive.
In a summary of the penalty, WorkSafeBC said the trucking company’s high-risk violations included failing to ensure that the partially assembled structures had enough to “safely cope with any batches that could possibly be placed on top of them. “
“The company failed to stop personnel from standing or underrunning a suspended load,” WorkSafeBC added.
An inspection report of the incident found that staff used an “undocumented procedure” to set up the cell house. When inspectors spoke to other companies offering similar services, they said no one was allowed near the cell house as it was lowered and raised in the air.
Further investigation found the home had shifted laterally up to 1.2 metres and that the company had not braced the structure to prevent such movement when the temporary supports failed.
“Knightway failed to ensure the use of adequate lifting procedures,” concluded investigators.
“Knightway did not conduct an adequate hazard identification and risk assessment for the work of installing a mobile home.”
The inspection report said the company had been operating for about nine months before the incident.
Glacier Media reached out to the company for comment, but the watchdog had responded by press time.
In an email, WorkSafeBC counsel and spokesperson Ashley Gregerson said the $2,500 administrative fine imposed on the company “does not reflect the tragic loss of life that occurred in this incident at the painting position. “
“The main objective of an administrative sanction is to motivate the employer who receives the sanction – and other employers – to comply with occupational fitness and protection legislation and regulations and to keep their workplaces safe,” he said.
Gregerson added that the amount of the fine depends on the length of the employer’s payroll, the nature of the violation, and the employer’s history of violations.
© 2024 Vancouver is amazing