Safety crackdown urged after roofer’s fall

Police say man had no harness, and no rails were in place; WorkSafe B.C. investigating

The B.C. Federation of Labour is calling for stricter enforcement on safety barriers and harnesses on construction sites after a roofer fell from a four-storey building in James Bay, leaving him with serious injuries.

It’s the second time this year a man has been seriously injured or killed after a fall at a construction site in Greater Victoria.

“How many workers need to be seriously injured or die before we take this really seriously and do something about it?” said the federation’s president Irene Lanzinger.

The man, in his 30s, was repairing the roof of the Arran House apartments at 545 Rithet St. when he fell onto pavement about 8:30 a.m., said Victoria police Const. Anthony Norman. He was not wearing a harness and there were no guard rails around the roof. Norman said it was the worker’s first day on the job.

It’s unclear what caused the man to fall.

“At this point, we know very little and have made no presumptions as to the cause of the incident,” said WorkSafe B.C. spokeswoman Erica Simpson.

Guardrails must be used if workers are on a platform more than 1.2 metres above the ground. The roofers were approximately 12 metres above a parking lot. They were not wearing harnesses, which is required when handrails aren’t in place.

In January, Roland Huetzelmann, 51, was hit by a piece of plywood lifted by a rogue gust of wind. He fell over a guardrail and landed on concrete nine metres below. He died of his injuries five days later.

His girlfriend Corinne Desjarlais called for better workplace safety standards and said there should have been a work stoppage that day because of high winds. The WorkSafe investigation into his death is ongoing.

Lanzinger said the most recent accident highlights the need for better inspection and enforcement on construction sites.

“We would save a lot of people from serious injury and death if we enforced rules around harnessing, fall protection and barriers,” she said.

Employers need to ensure proper safety protocols are followed and should be held accountable when there’s workplace injury that could have been prevented, Lanzinger said.

Employees have the right to refuse unsafe work but many are reluctant to speak up if they’re afraid it will affect their job security.

Falls from a height accounted for 92 deaths and more than 51,000 injuries between 2004 and 2013, according to WorkSafe B.C.

In 2016, WorkSafe B.C. prevention officers carried out 5,442 inspections on construction sites, handing out 1,084 orders, 40 of which were stop work orders and 65 penalties, Simpson said.