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.
Injury Type: Exposure to carbon monoxide (2 workers)
Core Activity: Plumbing, heating, vent, residential air conditioning, or central vacuum system installation or repair
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-May
Two workers (one of them a young worker) were operating a pressure washer while conducting drain pipe cleaning and replacement activities in an underground parking garage. The workers felt unwell and called 911. The local fire rescue service responded, and the workers were transported to hospital by ambulance.
Injury Type: Injury to lower body
Core Activity: Industrial, commercial, institutional, or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-May
A worker was performing framing activities on the flat roof of an existing commercial building. The worker lost his footing, causing him to fall through a guardrail system installed at the leading edge of the roof, landing on the ground about 11 feet 10 inches below.
Injury Type: Close call
Core Activity: Paving services
Location: Northern B.C.
Date of Incident: 2020-May
A worker was preheating asphalt with a propane torch, for repair adjacent to a building’s exterior wall. The wood siding behind the metal cladding caught fire. Workers inside the building unrelated to the paving firm saw smoke and immediately exited to a safe location. The local fire department responded and extinguished the fire. The building sustained extensive fire, water, and smoke damage.
Injury Type: Injuries to upper body
Core Activity: Painting or wallpapering
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-May
A young worker conducting painting clean-up activities from a job-built work platform fell about 14 feet to a lower roof structure and then to grade.
Injury Type: Upper body injuries
Core Activity: Low slope roofing
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2020-May
A worker was performing re-roofing activities on a public gas station and convenience store. The worker fell through an area where the original roof sheeting had been removed.
Injury Type: Amputation injury to fingers
Core Activity: Plumbing, heating, vent, residential air conditioning, or central vacuum system installation or repair
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-Apr
A worker slipped while operating a pipe groover machine and reached out with one gloved hand to stop from falling. The worker’s hand was caught in the machine.
Injury Type: Injuries to back
Core Activity: Framing or residential forming
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-Apr
A worker performing framing activities on the second floor of a wood frame house stepped through a floor opening. The worker fell about 24 feet to the basement below.
Injury Type: Electric shock
Core Activity: Excavation, or private landfill or transfer station operation
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2020-Apr
A young worker received an electric shock while trying to remove an 18-inch steel pin (for concrete formwork) that was contacting a 120 volt residential electrical service.
Injury Type: Multiple fractures
Core Activity: Plumbing, heating, vent, or residential air conditioning installation or repair
Location: Interior B.C.
Date of Incident: 2020-Apr
While guiding a driver backing up an air compressor, a worker fell backward from the top of an unguarded foundation wall (9 feet 8 inches high) to the concrete slab below.
Core Activity: House or other wood frame contracting, construction, or renovation work
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-Mar
A worker fell to grade (about 20 feet) while installing manufactured wooden trusses at a new house.
Injury Type: Burns
Core Activity: Industrial, commercial, institutional, or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-Mar
A worker was applying a flammable paint-on product to the interior of a water reservoir (a confined space). When the worker lit a handheld torch to speed up the drying of a residual pool on the floor, vapour from the product ignited.
Injury Type: Penetrating wound
Core Activity: Industrial, commercial, institutional, or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-Mar
A young worker was using a pneumatic nailer to install sheathing on the exterior of a new building. A discharged nail struck the worker.
Workers were using a tower crane to lift and install a reinforcing steel cage (23 feet tall, 2250 pounds) onto concrete column dowels. During final positioning of the load, the wire rope sling rigging failed. The reinforcing cage fell onto a worker who had climbed onto and secured himself to the bottom half of the cage with a belly positioning chain.
Injury Type: Undetermined injuries
Core Activity: House or other wood frame general contracting, construction, or renovation work
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-Mar
A worker was clearing and cleaning a concrete slab in preparation for roofers to place a membrane on it. The worker fell through a mechanical shaft opening in the slab that had been covered by an unsecured sheet of plywood, and landed on the concrete floor about 8 feet below.
Injury Type: Sprains and strains
Core Activity: House or other wood frame contracting, construction, or renovation work
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-Feb
A young worker accessed an area of flat roof on a new house to estimate the remaining soffit work. While on the roof, the worker tripped on a piece of plywood protecting the roof membrane and fell backward. The worker then rolled off the edge of the roof and fell 12 feet 8 inches to the gravel driveway.
SERVICE SECTOR
Injury Type: Fatal (1 worker)
Core Activity: Residential social service facility
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2020-Apr
A worker provided care to residents in a group home where one resident tested positive for COVID-19. The worker self-isolated at home and later died.
Share the post "Recent Construction Sector work-related incidents reported to WorkSafeBC"
