Vancouver Sun | Gordon Hoekstra | Jan 17, 2021  The B.C. Court of Appeal has upheld a lower-court ruling that prohibits Mike Singh and Seattle Environmental Consulting from working in the asbestos removal industry. In the lower court ruling, a 2019 B.C. Supreme Court decision, Singh and Seattle Environmental were found in contempt of an…

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WorkSafeBC will be holding a public hearing on proposed amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be holding the public hearing virtually. The virtual public hearing will be streamed live on March 3, 2021, in two sessions. The first will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the second from 3 to 5 p.m. Further…

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Journal of Commerce | BCCSA | January 14, 2021 Sometimes revolutions in education take years. For the BC Construction Safety Alliance (BCCSA), a shift to offering its in-person education programming online was completed in only months. While the Alliance looks forward to the day when it can again offer education programming in person, this new versatility…

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Journal of Commerce | DCN-JOC News Services | January 13, 2021 OTTAWA — It is essential to remain vigilant and follow worksite health and safety protocols and general public health measures as COVID-19 cases rise, new strains of the virus emerge and because the vaccine rollout is slower than anticipated, states a Jan. 13 message from the Canadian Construction Association (CCA).  The construction industry has already implemented highly disciplined health…

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January 13, 2021 Incident summaries are based on information obtained as soon as possible after the incidents: they are preliminary and subject to change. Details have been edited to protect workers’ privacy. See additional summaries online. Injury Type: Close call Core Activity: Excavator operation / Building demolition Location: Lower Mainland Date of Incident: 2020-Dec A tree was being pushed over…

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Journal of Commerce | Angela Gismondi | January 12, 2021 Providing adequate COVID-19 protection in the workplace not only helps prevent transmission of the virus but it’s also linked to better mental health among workers, says Dr. Peter Smith, the lead author of a new study and senior scientist at the Institute for Work and Health…

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Journal of Commerce | Russell Hixson | January 13, 2021 British Columbia’s Energy Minister Bruce Ralston is passing along an independent report on the status of the Site C Dam project to cabinet for review.  The report was prepared by Peter Milburn, a former deputy finance minister who was appointed by the province as a special…

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Vancouver Sun | Derrick Penner | Publishing date:Jan 10, 2021  Provincial health orders aimed at controlling COVID-19 slowed work on dam, but it does continue as cabinet reviews independent assessment of its future. Construction crews are making a staged return to work on B.C. Hydro’s Site C dam project in accordance with provincial health orders…

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Policy, Regulation and Research DivisionWorkSafeBC On August 14, 2020, the Workers Compensation Amendment Act, 2020 (Bill 23) came into effect. Under Bill 23, 34 legislative amendments were made to the Workers Compensation Act (Act). The amendments concerning permanent partial disability benefits and retirement age determinations came into effect on January 1, 2021. Permanent partial disability benefits On November 18, 2020, our…

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Journal of Commerce | Russell Hixson | January 8, 2021 s B.C. officials introduce new health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on large industrial jobsites in the north, construction and labour advocates are encouraging the industry to stay the course. Late last month, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province’s public health officer, ordered five industrial…

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Journal of Commerce | Russell Hixson | January 7, 2021 The Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project’s safety stand down remains in place after its initial Jan. 4 cutoff, a project spokesperson confirmed. “We are in the final stages of our restart planning and anticipate that we will be providing further details on restart dates in the…

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Journal of Commerce | DCN-JOC News Services | January 6, 2021 VANCOUVER, B.C. – BC Building Trades Council’s annual memorial to remember those killed in the Bentall Tower IV tragedy is going digital. “It’s the 40th anniversary of the Bentall Tower IV construction tragedy, and while COVID-19 prevents us from coming together to honour the lives…

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Chad Pawson | CBC News | Jan 03, 2021 Dr. Bonnie Henry says projects such as Site C threaten rapid spread of COVID-19 in northern B.C. British Columbia’s public health officer has ordered five major industrial projects in the north of the province to reduce the size of their workforces in an attempt to ensure the northern health…

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Journal of Commerce | Don Wall | January 4, 2021 The coronavirus pandemic dramatically transformed the Canadian construction landscape in 2020 with more disruption clearly to come in the new year. The Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce invited stakeholders to assess COVID’s continuing impacts for 2021 through the lenses of leadership, health and safety,…

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Journal of Commerce | Russell Hixson | January 4, 2021 Despite construction work volume declines, wages and skilled trades worker shortages remain high in B.C., data from the Independent Contractors and Businesses Association (ICBA) shows. The group released its annual Wages and Benefits Survey which collected responses from roughly 1,000 construction businesses from across the province….

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Journal of Commerce | Vince Versace | December 31, 2020 Did you hear about that virus? I remember being asked that question in mid-January of this year and my response was vague for a newshound like me. Sure, I had heard about it, but it seemed a world away, something that was happening in Wuhan, China….

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Journal of Commerce | DCN-JOC News Services | December 23, 2020 VICTORIA — There’s no disputing the fact that 2020 was a year like no other for the construction industry in Canada and across the globe. The industry was faced with many difficult decisions as the year progressed, from completely changing day-to-day site protocols, to wondering…

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December 21, 2020 Construction incident summaries +are based on information obtained as soon as possible after the incidents: they are preliminary and subject to change. Details have been edited to protect workers’ privacy. See additional summaries online. Injury Type: Multiple fractures (1 worker) Core Activity: Industrial, commercial, institutional, or highrise residential contracting or construction / Low slope roofing…

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Journal of Commerce | The Canadian Press | December 21, 2020 BURNS LAKE, B.C. — Northern Health has issued an order limiting work at two sites related to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project while declaring an outbreak of COVID-19. In a statement posted online Sunday (Dec. 20), the health authority says 17 cases remain active at…

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Journal of Commerce | Russell Hixson | December 21, 2020 Documents from a Canada Energy Regulator (CER) inspector following visits to Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project jobsites in the Lower Mainland have revealed “systemic non-compliance” of COVID-19 protocols. In the report, the inspector told those in charge to temporarily shut down the site so the entire…

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