A Delta company that manufactures equipment and play structures for waterparks has been fined by WorkSafeBC following a series of health and safety violations that included an incident where a worker's hand was seriously injured by a band saw.
Whitewater West Industries Ltd./PrimePlay by Whitewater was fined $75,000 on May 11, 2011. A report in the September/October WorkSafe Magazine says the firm "failed to ensure the health and safety of its workers and failed to provide them with adequate information, instruction, training and supervision."
For example, said the WorkSafe report, employees were using a shop-built platform mounted on a lift truck to stand on and retrieve things from shelving as hight as six metres (20 feet) high. As well, one of the company's workers suffered a serious injury when his hand contacted the running blade of a band saw, which was not properly guarded.
The company, said WorkSafe, also failed to secure compressed gas cylinders, ensure workers wear seatbelts on lift trucks, or conduct incident investigations.
"These are only some of the firm's repeated health and safety violations," said the WorkSafe report.
A Surrey company, Nu-Brite Industries Inc., also faces a fine of nearly $22,000 after a worker who was not properly supervised was struck repeatedly by a metal pipe and suffered serious injuries. The employee, said WorkSafe, was hand-polishing the pipe on a metal lathe when it began to wobble while rotating at high speed.
Several other firms working in Surrey also face WorkSafeBC fines:
• Rypac Aluminum Recycling Ltd. was charged more than $15,000 after a worker's arm was amputated while trying to clear an obstruction from a moving conveyor belt.
• Friendly Construction Ltd. was fined nearly $11,000 for its employees repeatedly working on the nine-metre-high third storey of a condominium building under construction without fall protection.
• Workers at PH Contractors Ltd. were allowed to enter an excavation about three metres deep without ensuring the sides were sloped or supported. The company was fined $4,036 for the "high-risk" violation.
• Arsara Diesel Truck Repairs Ltd. was fined $2,596 for failing to comply with two WorkSafeBC orders issued as a result of safety violations. The company failed to install guardrails on a mezzanine about three metres (10 feet) high, and failed to determine the load rating for a gantry crane.
• New City Framing Ltd. repeatedly failed to provide a first aid kit and first aid attendant and was fined $2,500.
• Three workers with Brar Brothers Siding & Tiles Ltd. were working without fall protection on a second-storey balcony about four-and-a-half metres above ground. The company was fined $2,500.
• Z.Q. Roofing and Renovation Ltd. was fined $2,500 for its workers repeatedly working on a roof between three and six metres high without fall protection.
• New Tech Framing Ltd. was cited for its repeated violation of not providing fall protection, with someone working unprotected about five-and-a-half metres above the ground.
L.S. Gutter Tech Ltd., a White Rock company, was also fined nearly $3,600 after a worker was killed in 2009 when the section of a gutter he was carrying contacted an overhead 14,000-volt power line.