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.
Core Activity: Structural concrete forming / Industrial, commercial, institutional or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Apr
ID Number: 2023178110003
While formwork was being stripped on level 17 of a highrise, in preparation for the flytable cycling process, a slab frame (about 2 feet wide and 6 feet long) fell from the building. It struck the ground, and then struck a worker on their hard hat before coming to rest. The worker was not injured.
Injury Type: Upper body fractures
Core Activity: Framing or residential forming / Industrial, commercial, institutional or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Apr
ID Number: 2023165370013
On the third floor of a building under construction, two workers were trying to move a pre-constructed wall panel that was lying flat on top of a few other wall panels. A guardrail had been pre-attached to the wall and the workers were using the guardrail to pull the wall panel off the stack of panels when the guardrail let go. The workers fell. Both landed against the third-floor perimeter guardrail at the same time, and it detached. One of the workers continued to fall (about 20 feet) before landing on a wooden fence below.
Injury Type: Close call
Core Activity: Structural concrete forming
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Apr
ID Number: 2023163750003
As concrete was being placed at a construction site, a concrete pump truck’s boom contacted energized 12 kV power lines. An arc flash and uncontrolled release of electricity occurred. No injuries were reported.
Injury Type: Contusions
Core Activity: Concrete pumping
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2023-Apr
ID Number: 2023182170006
A concrete pump truck drove away from a construction site with the outriggers retracted but the boom extended and elevated. The truck became unstable and rolled off the public roadway, coming to rest on its driver’s side on a downhill slope of about 45 degrees. The driver was able to self-extricate from the cab.
Injury Type: Fracture to upper body, laceration
Core Activity: Electrical work / Industrial, commercial, institutional or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Apr
ID Number: 2023155070007
A worker was using the fly section of an extension ladder. The ladder section slid and the worker fell about 8 feet to a concrete slab.
A worker was cleaning a column jacket on the top level of a concrete highrise when another worker, who was stripping a core wall panel, removed the designated safety bolt. The panel fell and landed on a coil rod before striking the first worker.
Injury Type: Injuries to hand
Core Activity: House or other wood frame contracting, construction, or renovation work
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023196490003
A worker was using a table saw to cut an insulated concrete form when one of their hands inadvertently contacted the saw blade. The table saw was unguarded at the time of the incident.
Injury Type: Multiple injuries
Core Activity: Painting or wallpapering
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023189780002
A worker was painting from an extension ladder set on top of a baker’s scaffold. The worker fell about 12 feet to the surface below.
Core Activity: Traffic control / Local government and related operations
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023171900011
A traffic control person (TCP) was struck by a vehicle driven by a non-worker on a low-volume side street. The car had been stopped but moved when the TCP’s paddle turned inadvertently (the TCP was not intending to signal the driver to move).
Injury Type: Injury to finger
Core Activity: Oil or gas pipeline construction or repair
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023165370012
While cleaning a paint spray gun, a worker placed one hand in front of the nozzle. Ejected solvent from the spray gun injured one of their fingers.
Injury Type: Fractured vertebrae
Core Activity: House or other wood frame contracting, construction, or renovation work
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023181570002
A worker was sweeping sawdust on the upper floor of a house under construction. The worker lifted one of two unsecured 4×8 sheets of plywood covering an open stairwell (for a stairway yet to be constructed) to the basement level. The worker fell about 11 feet onto compressed gravel.
Injury Type: Head injury, fractured wrist
Core Activity: House or other wood frame contracting, construction, or renovation work
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023173670002
While doing siding work, a worker fell from a ladder to a concrete driveway (about 15 feet).
Injury Type: Fractures of upper body
Core Activity: Siding, awning, or gutter installation, service, or repair
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023155500004
A young worker was on a pump-jack scaffolding system installing siding on a new building when they fell about 24 feet to the hard-packed dirt below. The scaffolding did not have guarding or any other form of fall protection installed.
Injury Type: Fracture, abrasion
Core Activity: Excavation, or private landfill or transfer station operation
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023167730005
A worker was trying to clear a blockage of shotcrete slurry in a pressurized flexible concrete hose. The worker was using a knife to remove a protective abrasion cover to gain access to the hose when they inadvertently cut into the hose. The hose ruptured, spraying the worker with the pressurized slurry.
Injury Type: Close call
Core Activity: Industrial, commercial, institutional, or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023182130007
An excavator’s bucket ruptured a 3-inch natural gas line during civil construction operations. The utility provider was immediately notified and several neighbouring homes and businesses were evacuated.
Injury Type: Injuries to arm
Core Activity: Decking application or waterproofing / Oil or gas pipeline construction or repair / Sandblasting of heavy equipment
Location: Northern B.C.
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023194080010
A worker was sandblasting on a pipeline project. The worker tried to reposition around the pipe they were sandblasting when the sandblaster inadvertently turned on, causing a pressurized (140 psi) mixture of air and sand to strike one of the worker’s arms.
Injury Type: Multiple fractures
Core Activity: Crane operation / Structural concrete reservoir, dam, dyke, or tunnel construction or repair/ Electric utilities
Location: Northern B.C.
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023178760007
An operator (worker) was found lying on the ground next to crane equipment.
Injury Type: Exposure to carbon monoxide (2 workers)
Core Activity: Structural concrete reservoir, dam, dyke, or tunnel construction or repair / Electric utilities
Location: Northern B.C.
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023178760006
While operating a mobile grout plant at a construction site, two workers were exposed to carbon monoxide fumes. The employer had enclosed the area of the grout plant due to weather conditions. Numerous gas-powered engines were in the area that was enclosed, and no ventilation was installed when the facility was enclosed.
Along with an excavator, two workers (one a young worker) were helping to place water main piping inside a 4-feet-deep excavation. One of them slipped, fell into the excavation, and had one of their feet pinned between the pipe and the side of the excavation. The second worker entered the excavation to assist the first worker and was struck by the pipe when it inadvertently shifted in the rigging.
Injury Type: Lacerated arm
Core Activity: Structural concrete forming
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023198150003
A worker was using a circular saw to cut 2×4 wood blocks when the saw bound and kicked back.
Injury Type: Close call
Core Activity: Excavation operation
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Mar
ID Number: 2023178050001
During ongoing bulk excavation work, a section of an engineered shotcrete wall (about 60 feet long by 30 feet deep) collapsed. No workers were injured.
Injury Type: Pain, bruising
Core Activity: Siding installation
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2023-Feb
ID Number: 2023166920001
As a worker was descending the outside of a metal frame scaffold, the scaffold shifted and the worker fell about 12 feet, landing on a tempered glass railing. The scaffold did not include installed scaffold ladders for access and egress and was not secured to the building.
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