Two firms, including one in Surrey and another in Langley, have been fined hundreds of thousands of dollars after two workplace incidents led to serious injuries.
WorkSafeBC published a couple of safety reports in the form of penalty summaries relating to the incidents on its website.
The penalty summary was published against Teal Cedar Products and Revelstoke-based Columbia River Shake & Shingle.
According to WorkSafeBC, investigators attended a work site in Surrey after an incident involving a worker falling from a platform onto a conveyor and suffering serious injuries.
WorkSafeBC observed that the platform the worker fell from did not have guardrails, and that no fall protection was in use. In response, a stop-work order was issued.
“The firm failed to ensure work platforms had guardrails installed if [they were] 1.2 m or more above the adjacent level. This was a repeated and high-risk violation,” WorkSafeBC said.
For the violation, Teal Cedar and Columbia River were fined $225,243.
The second violation was regarding Bulldog Bag in Langley, a paper and plastic bag manufacturer.
A worker was cutting material on a stack press, and the knife the worker was holding got drawn into the press. It resulted in the worker sustaining serious injuries.
WorkSafeBC was able to determine that the press lacked safeguards on moving parts that were accessible to workers, which included rotating rollers, nip points, draw-in hazards, and projecting shaft ends.
“Similar deficiencies were observed on two other stack presses, and stop-use orders were issued for all three presses. The firm failed to ensure machinery was fitted with adequate safeguards to protect workers from hazardous points of operation, and that rotating parts exposed to contact by workers were guarded. These were both repeated and high-risk violations,” WorkSafeBC said.
WorkSafeBC doesn’t typically reveal details behind specifics of the injuries, and that was the case for both the Surrey and Langley summaries.