The B.C. government was hit with a substantial fine relating to the province’s wildfire-fighting work in a remote part of the province.
The violations occurred in Squilax, which is a settlement in B.C. located to the northeast of Little Shushwap Lake. It’s over a four-hour drive away from Vancouver.
According to WorkSafeBC, the B.C. government is facing a penalty of $759,368.84 for numerous safety violations, involving one that led to someone’s death.
WorkSafeBC investigated two separate incidents “involving this employer’s wildfire-fighting work.”
WorkSafeBC
The first incident involved two workers. One of those workers was a supervisor. Both workers were in a utility terrain vehicle when it went over a steep embankment.
WorkSafeBC says both of the workers were injured, and one of them was fatally injured.
An investigation determined that neither of the workers was wearing a helmet and that the passenger was not wearing a seatbelt. WorkSafeBC mentions that the passenger-side retention netting was damaged.
“In addition, inadequate supervision, a lack of safe work procedures and training for operating the UTV, and a lack of a pre-use inspection of the UTV all contributed to the incident.”
In a separate incident, a crew of five workers got trapped during a planned ignition operation.
“Other crews involved in the operation were forced to navigate off-road when their escape route was compromised,” WorkSafeBC said in the penalty summary.
WorkSafeBC found that a lack of planning, training, and communication contributed to the incident. It added that elements of the safety program and operations manual weren’t followed and that the employer failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training and supervision they required to ensure health and safety.
On top of this fine, over the last two months, WorkSafeBC has issued penalties to various traffic control agencies around the Lower Mainland and B.C. for thousands of dollars.
You can find a full list of penalties imposed in B.C. on the WorkSafeBC website.