WorkSafe

KDM Construction Ltd. | $2,500 | Mission | April 23, 2015
WorkSafeBC observed this firm’s worker on the skirt roof of a two-storey house under construction. The worker was in view of the
firm’s supervisor but was not using personal fall protection gear. No other form of fall protection was in place. He was exposed to a risk
of falling at least 3.4 m (11 ft.). The firm failed to ensure that fall protection was used where a fall of 3 m (10 ft.) or more could occur, a
repeated and high-risk violation. As well, it failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision
needed to ensure their health and safety. This was a repeated violation.
Khela Excavating Ltd. | $7,503.48 | Coquitlam | April 28, 2015
A WorkSafeBC officer observed this firm’s worker in an excavator demolishing a house built before 1990. The officer asked to see a
pre-demolition hazardous materials survey for the site, but was given only a two-sample laboratory report. The firm later submitted the
survey to WorkSafeBC, but it was found to be deficient. The firm’s failure to ensure that a qualified person had inspected the site to test
for asbestos-containing materials before it began demolition was a repeated violation. So was its failure to ensure that the required
hazmat survey was available on site during demolition.
M K Construction Ltd. | $2,500 | Delta | April 24, 2015
This firm was framing a new two-storey house. WorkSafeBC observed two of its workers, including a representative of the firm, on the
open second level carrying a 4x8 sheet of plywood. They were within 1 m (3 ft.) of unguarded openings in the floor, exposed to a risk of
falling 4 to 5.5 m (13 to 18 ft.) to the basement floor below. Further, to move between the main floor and the second floor, workers had
to use a ladder instead of the required stairway. The firm’s failure to install guardrails around openings in the floor was a repeated and
high-risk violation. The failure to provide a stairway to the second level before beginning construction on that level was a repeated
violation. The firm committed these infractions knowingly or with reckless disregard.
Marcia A. Huchzermyer / Sensible Flat Roofs | $2,500 | Burns Lake | May 7, 2015
Six of this firm’s workers (including four new and young workers) were on the flat roof of a two-storey commercial building. Guardrails
had not been installed; none of the workers were using personal fall protection gear. A control zone on the roof, consisting of cones,
was inadequate because there was no raised warning line between the cones and no evidence of a designated safety monitor.
WorkSafeBC observed the workers walking past the cones to the very edge of the roof. They were exposed to a risk of falling 5.5 m
(18.5 ft.). The firm failed to ensure that fall protection was used, a repeated and high-risk violation. In addition, the two ladders that
provided access to the roof had not been secured as required to ensure stability during use, a repeated violation.
Did you
know?
All workers in
B.C. have the
right to refuse
unsafe work.
CONNECTED
one_third_ad.indd 1
11/02/15 1:19 PM
September / October 2015 | WorkSafe Magazine 33