Construction firm fined $43K for lack of fall protection at Victoria job site

FILE - Carpenters work on new home in a newly constructed subdivision on Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2021. This image is for illustrative purposes only. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Sean Kilpatrick)

British Columbia's workplace health and safety agency has fined a construction company more than $43,000 for a "high-risk and repeated violation" at a Victoria job site.

WorkSafeBC says it imposed a penalty of $43,359.04 against the Vancouver-based VPAC Construction Group on April 20, after a safety officer observed a worker installing sheeting on the roof of a residential building without any fall-protection equipment.

"No fall protection was in place, exposing the worker to a fall risk of about 6.7 metres (22 ft.)," the workplace safety agency said in a statement on the penalty Monday. "The firm failed to ensure fall protection was used, a repeated and high-risk violation."

An inspection report for the subject property at 540 Dallas Rd. shows work was temporarily halted at the address while a proper fall arrest system could be established.

The address is home to Amica Somerset House, a retirement home on the Victoria waterfront.

The report says the worker was on a gable roof with a 30-degree pitch, approximately 6.7 metres above a paved driveway, when the infraction was recorded.

Construction workers in B.C. have an injury rate of 3.37 injuries per 100 workers, which is higher than the provincial average of 2.24 injuries per 100 workers, according to WorkSafeBC.

More than 7,000 loss-time injuries in the construction industry were reported in 2021, including 1,592 serious injuries, the agency said.

"The non-use of fall protection is an ongoing issue in the sector and resulted in 5,893 injuries in the past five years, including 28 fatalities," the statement said.

"Additionally, 164 administrative penalties totaling $1,027,997.55 were issued in 2022 to employers for lack of fall protection."

WorkSafeBC says the primary purpose of its monetary penalties is to motivate the employer receiving the penalty, and other employers, to comply with health and safety regulations to keep workers safe.