A company involved in the construction of a large run-of-river power project near Powell River has been fined $250,000 for its role in the death of a Squamish rock scaler who perished in a workplace mishap in 2009.
Samuel Joseph Fitzpatrick, 24, was working for Peter Kiewit Infrastructure Co. on the Plutonic Power project in Toba Inlet when the incident occurred on Feb. 22, 2009. According to a report prepared by WorkSafeBC, a boulder that was 1.5 metres in diameter came loose during land-clearing operations and crushed Fitzpatrick as he hand-drilled into a boulder below the work area.
In an investigation of the mishap, WorkSafeBC found that the company failed to comply with certain sections of the Workers Compensation Act and "failed to provide its workers with adequate instruction and training for land-clearing work," officials wrote in the report.
The amount of the fine is based on Kiewit officials committing "high risk violations knowingly or in reckless disregard of its statutory health and safety obligations" and the fact that the incident resulted in a fatality, officials said.
According to the report, Kiewit officials:
"Failed to take sufficient precautions for the prevention of work-related injuries or illnesses;
"Failed to comply with sections 115(2)(a) and 115(2)(e) of the [Workers Compensation] Act and sections 4.1 and 21.42(b) of the [Occupational Health and Safety] Regulation." Section 115(2)(a) of the Act deals with remedying workplace situations that are hazardous to workers, while section 115(2)(e) deals with providing instruction or training to workers to help prevent injury to themselves or others. Section 4.1 of the Regulation deals with planning and construction a workplace to ensure workers' safety, while section 21.42(b) involves the clearing of loose material and/or the stabilizing of work sites, before drilling, to prevent rock falls or slides;
"Failed to maintain a safe workplace or safe working conditions; and
"Did not exercise due diligence to prevent these circumstances."
A Kiewit official last week told the Powell River Peak that the company had asked WorkSafeBC officials to review the decision. The official said the company would have no comment until after the review is complete.
Fitzpatrick, who was born in Squamish, had also worked as a rock scaler on the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project before being transferred to the Toba Inlet project.
Kiewit officials and workers faced a series of fatalities and injuries in the months leading up to Fitzpatrick's death. On Oct. 25, 2008, a Cormorant search and rescue helicopter from 19 Wing Comox evacuated an injured construction worker employed by Kiewit. On Nov. 16, 2008, six Kiewit workers - including Squamish resident Jerry Burns - and a pilot died in an airplane crash on Thormanby Island. The plane was headed for Plutonic Power Corp.'s East Toba-Montrose Creek run-of-river project, the same site at which Fitzpatrick was killed.
- With files from Kyle Wells, Powell River Peak
