B. C. moves to fill gaps in sawmill inspections
Worksafebc changes follow Sun probe into deadly blasts
The B. C. government announced today changes meant to fill gaps in fire code inspections at sawmills and other industrial plants in small and remote communities, and on First Nation reserves.
WorkSafeBC officers, who already inspect sawmills and other industrial facilities for general worker safety, will be trained to check those plants specifically to ensure fire safety. It’s an area in which WorkSafeBC does not normally have jurisdiction.
B. C. Safety Authority officers, who have responsibility for heavy industrial equipment, will do the same.
The changes follow a series of Vancouver Sun stories that showed fire code inspections were not taking place at many sawmills, according to Jobs Minister Pat Bell.
Sawmills in Burns Lake and Prince George exploded and burned earlier this year, killing four workers and injuring dozens of others.
The B. C. government will also set aside $ 1 million for fire inspection training, company education and to produce computer software to smooth communication between agencies such as WorkSafeBC, the B. C. fire commissioner’s office and the B. C. Safety Authority.
“With the exception of mines, ( WorkSafeBC) is in every industrial facility in the province on an ongoing basis,” said Bell, who has responsibility for labour. “So utilizing WorkSafe resources when we are already there to do that incremental work just made a lot of sense from my perspective.”
A senior WorkSafeBC manager will be given responsibility to oversee the two- year, $ 1- million training, education and software initiative, dubbed the Fire Inspection and Prevention Initiative.
Bell does not anticipate more inspection staff being needed or regulatory changes, but added that both areas will be monitored.
Starting immediately, WorkSafeBC officers will demand industrial plants produce documentation that shows sprinklers and fire alarms have been tested and that fire safety plans are in place, said Donna Wilson, WorkSafeBC vice- president of industry services and sustainability.
“If our officers are not able to walk away from the inspection with confidence there is ( fire code) compliance, they will immediately make a report on that and refer that information to the fire commissioner for further action,” Wilson said.
Fire safety plans will need to include specifics on how dust will be maintained at safe levels. Dust is under examination as a factor in both deadly sawmill explosions, which occurred in Burns Lake on Jan. 20 and in Prince George on April 23.
Once notified of problems, the B. C. fire commissioner’s office will demand compliance within days if it’s a major safety issue such as a sprinkler system, said deputy fire commissioner Kelly Gilday.
If the company does not respond, the fire commissioner’s office will send out an inspector and issue orders if needed, he said.
Although provincial law mandates fire inspections be done for all public buildings within municipalities, The Sun found about a dozen sawmills in Mackenzie, Fort St. James, Houston and Williams Lake were going without.
Small- town fire chiefs say lack of expertise and cost make it difficult for their departments to conduct inspections.
Some left inspections to the companies and their insurers, adding there was little support from the fire commissioner’s office.
In 2006, the B. C. Liberal government cut front- line fire commissioner inspection staff to four from 17.
After the explosion at the Babine Forest Products sawmill near Burns Lake, The Sun reported no fire code inspections were done because of a regulatory gap in assigning responsibility for inspections on First Nations lands.
Sawmills outside of municipalities were in a grey zone. The B. C. fire commissioner’s office had said it was not their mandate to inspect those mills, but would do so if there was a complaint.