Date of incident: April 2020
Notice of incident number: 2020188280003
Employers: Framing company; general contracting company (prime contractor)

Incident summary:
At a residence under construction, a worker was cutting plywood that covered the opening for an elevator shaft on the second floor. The cut plywood remained lodged in the opening rather than falling down the elevator shaft. Prior to completing the task of removing all the plywood, the worker called a second worker over to assist in standing up a framed wall for the elevator shaft. When the second worker arrived at the elevator shaft to assist, he stepped on the cut plywood that was covering the elevator shaft and fell 7.3 m (24 ft.) to the gravel basement floor. The worker sustained serious injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Failure to use fall protection. The worker who came over to assist was not aware that the two pieces of plywood covering the elevator shaft had been cut. He was working at a height in excess of 3 m (10 ft.) without the use of a fall protection system.

Contributing factors

• Inadequate occupational health and safety program. The circumstances demonstrate that the occupational health and safety program of the workers’ employer was not adequate. This employer did not conduct a proper inspection to manage the hazards in the workplace, did not have safe work procedures for working at heights, and did not incorporate regular monthly safety meetings into its health and safety program. In addition, this employer did not have a qualified first aid attendant and first aid kit at the worksite.
• Lack of site safety coordination. The prime contractor, a general contracting company hired by the homeowner to coordinate the construction of the residence, failed to have a system in place to ensure the activities of all workers at this site related to occupational health and safety were coordinated, as required by the Workers Compensation Act. The site-specific safety orientation given to the workers before their work began at the site was inadequate and not documented. Proper worksite inspections and hazard and risk assessments were not being conducted at the worksite, and no direction was provided to any workers regarding the hazards at the workplace. The prime contractor did not hold regular meetings with the subcontractors to discuss health and safety matters.

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