More than $1.3 million in fines have been levied against two companies involved in a series of B.C. crane accidents, including an incident last year at Vancouver's Oakridge Park development where a worker was killed by material that fell 26 storeys.
WorkSafeBC fined EllisDon Corp. about $515,000 while Newway Concrete Forming was hit with a $113,000 penalty over the February 2024 tragedy when Yuridia Flores was killed by a 9.6-metre-long and six-metre-wide mould that was being lifted from one floor to another.
EllisDon was also issued another $689,000 in fines over two other crane accidents this year, one in Vancouver in April and the other in Victoria in June, where no serious injuries were reported.
WorkSafeBC says that in the fatal Oakridge accident, the mould was being pushed when it "accelerated out of the side of the building," falling to the ground and killing Flores.
EllisDon was the prime contractor at the highrise construction site, while Newway Concrete Forming was the provider of the concrete formwork service at the site.
In an email statement, EllisDon says it is reviewing WorkSafeBC's decision to impose the penalties, adding the company "remains steadfast" in its commitment to people's safety on its sites.
"We continue to be diligent and are always exploring new and innovative ways to strengthen and enhance our safety program, ensuring that safety remains at the core of everything we do," the statement says.
Newway Concrete did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
WorkSafeBC says in the announcement of the fines that both companies had multiple "high-risk violations" of work site safety rules, including EllisDon having an inadequate "ground exclusion zone" under suspended loads that were not controlled.
"WorkSafeBC's investigation determined the firm had not conducted regular reviews of the subcontractors' safe work procedures, did not confirm that a risk assessment had been conducted, and had not identified the lift on the day of the incident as a critical lift," the agency says of EllisDon's violations at Oakridge.
"The firm failed to ensure regular inspections were conducted to prevent the development of unsafe working conditions, and failed to ensure its workplace was planned and maintained to protect workers from danger."
Newway Concrete, meanwhile, was found to have "a lack of training and communication for ground control workers and control zones, inadequate procedures for flying corner tables, a lack of risk assessments and inspections, and a lack of adherence to critical life requirements."
The company is said to have lacked instructions to show step-by-step procedures for moving the mould, and didn't make sure the equipment used was "capable of performing its functions."
The provincial agency had said earlier that Flores never should have been standing where she was when she was killed.
It also identified EllisDon's lack of an adequate lift plan for both of its 2025 crane-related accidents, including one case where a loaded canopy's sharp edge cut a rigging sling resulting in the load falling from a balcony to a lower level.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
