WorkSafeBC fines Teal Cedar, Columbia River $225,243 after worker falls onto conveyor

A worker fell from a platform with no guardrails onto a conveyor at a Surrey work site, and WorkSafeBC fined the companies involved $225,243.

The penalty summary, posted on the agency's website, sits alongside a second one involving a Langley manufacturer where a worker was seriously injured on a press. Daily Hive Vancouver reported that the firms were fined hundreds of thousands of dollars after the two incidents. For workplaces in Surrey and Langley, the summaries spell out what inspectors looked for and what they found missing. In both cases WorkSafeBC called the violations repeated and high-risk.

The Surrey penalty was issued against Teal Cedar Products and Revelstoke-based Columbia River Shake & Shingle. WorkSafeBC investigators attended the site after the worker fell from the platform onto the conveyor and suffered serious injuries. WorkSafeBC observed that the platform had no guardrails and that no fall protection was in use, and a stop-work order was issued at the site.

The agency said the firm failed to ensure that work platforms 1.2 m or more above the adjacent level had guardrails. Teal Cedar and Columbia River were fined $225,243 for the violation.

The second summary involves Bulldog Bag, a paper and plastic bag manufacturer in Langley. A worker cutting material on a stack press had the knife they were holding drawn into the press and was seriously injured.

WorkSafeBC determined the press lacked safeguards on accessible moving parts, including rotating rollers, nip points, draw-in hazards and projecting shaft ends. Similar deficiencies were seen on two other stack presses, and stop-use orders were issued for all three machines.