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.
During the installation of vertical concrete formwork, a worker standing on a concrete footing lost their balance and fell into the excavation next to the footing.
Injury Type: Injuries to upper body
Core Activity: Excavation operation
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Nov
ID Number: 2024171900014
The operator of a bulldozer was found between the tracks and the blade arm of the equipment.
Injury Type: Injuries to hand
Core Activity: House or other wood frame contracting, construction, or renovation work
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Nov
ID Number: 2024207180005
A young worker was guiding a load of 2×4 lumber onto the top floor of a residential low-rise apartment building when the load began to spin. The worker tried to control the load but could not, resulting in one of their hands being caught between the load and a large garbage bin stored beside the area where the lumber was being landed.
Injury Type: Injuries to fingers
Core Activity: Finishing carpentry
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Nov
ID Number: 2024188270007
A worker was ripping plywood strips with a circular saw when one of their hands contacted the saw’s blade.
Injury Type: Bruising, laceration
Core Activity: Wood frame contracting, construction, or renovation work / industrial, commercial, institutional or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Nov
ID Number: 2024155270004
During a wind event, an assembly of four unsheathed 2×4 roof trusses (26 feet long, 2 feet high) fell about 60 feet into a courtyard. One struck the falling object protection system (FOPS) of a telehandler, injuring the operator.
Injury Type: Multiple injuries
Core Activity: Electrical work / Metal product manufacture
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024157530022
An electrician was working on an energized 30-amp 600-volt fuse box, connected to a 100-amp 600-volt fuse box, intending to disconnect and move the 30-amp box. Electrical arcing occurred, causing a fire and injuring the worker.
Injury Type: Close call
Core Activity: Crane operation / Industrial, commercial, institutional, or highrise residential contracting or construction / General trucking,
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024181570010
A tower crane was hoisting three steel joists (about 20 by 2 feet, weighing 3,000 pounds each) from a flat-deck trailer. When the load was about 50 feet in the air, it shifted and the rigging failed, releasing the suspended load. One joist struck the flat-deck, knocking two additional joists into the driving lanes of the adjacent roadway. The other two joists landed in the worksite on the opposite side of the trailer. Multiple workers, including the truck driver, were working in proximity to the lost load. No injuries were reported.
Injury Type: Lacerations, fracture
Core Activity: Excavation operation / Consulting engineering, geological, geophysical, or geochemical consulting, or construction management consulting
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024161740044
A worker was backing up a loaded articulated rock truck on a gravel berm road at a construction site when the truck crossed the edge of the road, causing the truck and trailer to roll over and down the slope. They came to rest in a creekbed about 30 metres below with the worker inside the cab.
Injury Type: Injuries to head
Core Activity: Drywalling or acoustic board installation
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024175270006
A worker on a pair of stilts was performing drywall tasks when they tripped on an electrical cord and fell.
Injury Type: Close call
Core Activity: Excavation operation
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024163500010
During an archaeological dig, an excavator was removing earth when its bucket ruptured a 3/4-inch liquefied natural gas line. Workers were not able to control the release, which continued for three hours, until the utility owner was able to expose and shut off a buried 6-inch main service line. The surrounding area of residential and commercial buildings was evacuated during this time.
Injury Type: Multiple injuries
Core Activity: Drywalling or acoustic board installation
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024210670006
A young worker was placing a sheet of drywall onto an 8-foot wall while standing on a 4-foot sawhorse ladder when they fell.
Injury Type: Injury to head, soft tissue injuries (1 worker)
Core Activity: Structural concrete forming / Construction labour supply or general labour supply
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024203080019
A worker was on an elevated platform (scaffold) stripping concrete formwork when a piece of formwork became lodged on top of the scaffold. When the worker dislodged it, the formwork hit a 20-foot vertically placed (standing) form, which fell and struck another worker.
Injury Type: Electrical contact (1 worker)
Core Activity: Mechanized tunnel boring construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024165370034
A worker contacted a low-voltage electrical current on a tunnel-boring machine during maintenance (a lockout and trouble-shooting operation). A fire erupted outside the tunnel next to the high-voltage cabinets. Another worker immediately put out the fire with an extinguisher.
Injury Type: Fractures (1 worker)
Core Activity: Welding services or ornamental metal installation / Heavy equipment, machinery, or parts manufacture or installation (greater than 500 pounds)
Location: Northern B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024178760010
Workers were pressure-testing welds on an air intake system. During one test, a plug they were using released from the system and struck a worker.
Injury Type: Injuries to arm
Core Activity: Excavation, or private landfill or transfer station operation
Location: Interior B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024194950014
The conveyor belt on a mobile rock screener malfunctioned. A worker was trying to resolve the issue when one of their arms got caught in the end spool.
Injury Type: Fatal
Core Activity: Excavation, or private landfill or transfer station operation
Location: Northern B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024179460039
A worker was conducting maintenance on the frame deck (between the back of the cab and front of the dump trailer) on a transport truck when the brakes inadvertently released. The truck and trailer began rolling backward down a 5 percent grade. The worker tried to jump clear of the truck and landed under its front steering axle. The worker succumbed to their injuries.
Injury Type: Close call
Core Activity: Crane operation
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Oct
ID Number: 2024190520001
A tower crane was lifting a load of metal pipes when the load became unstable, causing two pipes to fall about 150 feet. The falling pipes struck the transit trolley lines and the active roadway below before bouncing back into the jobsite. No injuries were reported.
Injury Type: Fatal (1 worker)
Core Activity: Structural concrete forming / Crane operation / House or other wood frame contracting, construction, or renovation work
Location: Vancouver Island/Coastal B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Sep
ID Number: 2024171900012
A worker was assisting a tower crane operator, handling and storing a newly constructed gang panel. The panel was placed against a rockface wall with a lean. As the worker climbed the back of the panel to disconnect the lifting clutches, the panel fell, fatally injuring the worker.
Injury Type: Fractured leg
Core Activity: Steep slope roofing
Location: Northern B.C.
Date of Incident: 2024-Sep
ID Number: 2024207290028
A worker was installing felt underlay for metal roofing on a steep roof of a three-storey house. They fell about 15 feet, landing on a partially completed deck.
Injury Type: Close call
Core Activity: Industrial, commercial, institutional, or highrise residential contracting or construction
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Aug
ID Number: 2024181740010
A six-storey wood frame structure with two levels of parkade caught fire and burned to the ground. During the fire, the tower crane erected onsite separated partway up the mast and fell across a public roadway with the jib landing on a house. The fire department extinguished the fire. No injuries were reported.
Injury Type: Injuries to lower body and head
Core Activity: Window or glass installation, replacement, or repair
Location: Lower Mainland
Date of Incident: 2024-Jul
ID Number: 2024181740007
A worker climbed over a wooden guardrail to access the leading edge of a new commercial building. The worker, whose personal fall protection system was not connected to an anchor, stumbled while climbing over the guardrail and fell about 32 feet to grade.
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