Following the deaths of six people in construction-related incidents in the past few years, WorkSafeBC is recommending changes to improve crane safety.
WorkSafeBC says the risks associated with construction cranes in the province are increasing as more cranes are in operation, on more complex projects, than ever before.
The independent provincial agency consults with and educates employers and workers about safe work practices. It also enforces occupational health and safety regulations.
Its latest recommendations are focused on key changes it says will improve crane safety. They include:
- Review the existing crane operator certification program to ensure it supports safe work.
- Explore how to improve the training and skills of supervisors, riggers and workers involved in the assembly, operation, disassembly or repositioning of cranes.
- Review options for employers responsible for the assembly, operation, disassembly or repositioning of tower cranes, including registration and licensing.
- Increase the staffing and capacity of WorkSafeBC’s specialized crane inspection team.
- Develop new regulations to address the frequency of tower crane inspections.
- Review and update the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation – including regulations related to cranes and rigging – to ensure they meet the needs of increasingly complex worksites.
- Ensure that the BC Association for Crane Safety is equipped to service and support workers and employers in the sector.
WorkSafeBC says it brought together 130 “crane-sector stakeholders,” including labour representatives, operators, employers, contractors, rental companies, and the BC Association for Crane Safety to help shape its recommendations.
Five workers died in a deadly crane collapse in Kelowna in 2021. Another crane “incident” in February of this year claimed the life of a woman at the site of Vancouver’s Oakridge Park development.
“With a greater number of cranes operating in increasingly complex worksites, we need to ensure that employers provide the training, supervision, and safe-work practices needed to keep workers safe in an evolving work environment,” said WorkSafeBC’s head of prevention services, Todd McDonald.
The agency says there are approximately 400 tower cranes operating in B.C., which is the highest number in all of Canada.
—With files from Dean Recksiedler