A failure to protect workers from what could have been a 20-foot fall at a Regan Avenue job site has resulted in a $5,000 penalty for a Langley roofing company.
WorkSafe B.C. fined Upper Roofing Ltd. following a site inspection last January at a two-storey house west of Mundy Park in Coquitlam.
Two workers – one of whom was a representative of the company – were working on the sloped roof when an inspector arrived.
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“The worker was under the direct supervision of the supervisor and was not instructed to use a fall protection system,” according the inspection report.
There was no fall protection in place, according to the report. The workers were also close to the edge of the roof, the inspector stated.
Besides failing to provide workers with instruction and supervision to: “ensure their health and safety,” ladders at the site were not “sufficiently secured to ensure stability,” according to WorkSafe.
The slope of the main section of the roof was approximately 4:12, meaning the roof rises at a rate of four inches per foot from the edge to the peak.
There were all repeated violations, according to the report.
WorkSafe B.C. also fined Upper Roofing Ltd. based on conditions at a Port Coquitlam job site in 2017 and an Abbotsford site in 2022, for a total of $7,524.
Workers are required to use fall protection including guardrails, a harness and an anchor whenever they’re working at heights of 10 feet or higher or where a fall could result in serious injury.
Over the past five years, 28 B.C. workers have died due to not using fall protection systems, according to WorkSafe. Workers also suffered 5,893 injuries over that period.
Upper Roofing had been brought on to the Regan Avenue site by the main contractor, according to the inspection notice.
