Employer ‘failed to ensure that it assigned overall responsibility for administration of the confined space entry program and supervision of confined space entry to an adequately trained person’
WorkSafeBC has imposed a penalty of $110,855.83 against West Fraser Mills Ltd., operating as Eurocan Pulp & Paper, following the death of a subcontracted worker who was engulfed by wood fibre inside a silo at the company's Quesnel sawmill.
The incident occurred after a fire ignited inside the silo, a confined space, and water used to extinguish the blaze caused wood fibre inside the structure to freeze. A worker employed by a subcontractor was pressure washing the frozen fibre inside the silo when the fatal engulfment occurred.
WorkSafeBC classified all violations connected to the incident as high-risk. The Quesnel sawmill falls under WorkSafeBC's Veneer or Plywood Manufacture classification unit within the manufacturing sector.
A large volume of fibre dislodged from an overhang above the work area while the worker was inside the silo. WorkSafeBC said the material "blocked access to the silo hatch and engulfed the worker, who sustained fatal injuries."
The investigation tied the engulfment directly to gaps in the firm's confined space program and rescue arrangements.
Failures, gaps
WorkSafeBC found the firm "failed to ensure that it assigned overall responsibility for administration of the confined space entry program and supervision of confined space entry to an adequately trained person."
The company also "failed to ensure that a hazard assessment and written confined space entry procedures were prepared by a qualified person, and that written procedures specified the means to eliminate all hazards." Pre-entry safeguards were absent as well: the firm did not ensure "that before a worker entered a confined space, pre-entry testing and inspection was conducted to verify that it was safe for entry."
Rescue preparedness at the site was also deficient. WorkSafeBC said the firm failed to ensure "that every person assigned rescue duties was properly equipped and adequately trained, that a lifeline was attached to the worker's safety harness and tended to at all times by a standby person."
It further failed to ensure "that if a worker enters a confined space that contains a risk of engulfment or entrapment, the standby person is equipped and capable of immediately effecting rescue using suitable lifting equipment." WorkSafeBC added that the firm "failed to ensure confined space rescue practice drills were conducted at least annually and to maintain records of training and drills."
Prime contractor responsibilities
As prime contractor of a multiple-employer workplace, West Fraser "failed to establish and maintain a system of regulatory compliance and to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety and that of other workers at the workplace," WorkSafeBC said.
West Fraser Mills Ltd. was not quoted in the WorkSafeBC summary, and its response to the penalty was not available at the time of this report.
