Date of incident: May 2022
Notice of incident number: 2022188240006
Employers: Structural steel construction company; construction management company (prime contractor)

Incident summary
Workers were working on a three-level warehouse that was at the structural steel framing stage of construction. Ironworkers were installing bolts into the beams on the third level of the structure. One of the workers fell 16.8 m (55 ft.) to the ground and sustained fatal injuries.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Worker who was not using fall protection system fell from height. The worker was conducting work activities at height and was not using any means of fall protection. He was wearing a full body harness and shock-absorbing lanyard, but at the time of the incident his lanyard was not connected to the horizontal lifeline, and no other form of fall protection was in use.

Contributing factors

• Inadequate supervision. The worker’s employer did not provide adequate supervision to workers and failed to verify worker compliance with fall protection requirements and reinforce safe work practices. The employer had written fall protection procedures but they were not effectively applied at the worksite. The employer did not have an effective system in place to correct unsafe practices. As a result, unsafe work practices were permitted to develop, such as workers not using fall protection equipment, which exposed workers to the risk of falling from elevation.
• Prime contractor did not fulfill responsibilities. The prime contractor failed to ensure the safe coordination of the work activities at the worksite and failed to ensure that the contractors were adhering to the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and the Workers Compensation Act.

Other health and safety issues

• No continuous fall protection system. The third level of the steel-frame warehouse, where the worker was positioned at the time of the incident, had a horizontal lifeline system in place. However, the system had gaps where workers had to unclip from the lifeline to traverse beams. These deficiencies posed risks to workers on the third level but did not contribute to the incident.

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