Penalties have been handed over to a pair of B.C. framing companies summoned to build houses in Coquitlam.
A combined total of $7,548.06 in fines was issued to Great Mann Construction Ltd. (Delta) and B Brothers / Batth Framing Company (Surrey) by WorkSafeBC.
According to the provincial safety watchdog, both were set back in early May for the same offence — failing to provide safety measures to prevent fall risks for their employees.
Second in three months
This was the second penalty against Great Mann while working at a Coquitlam residential site in roughly three months.
The latter resulted in a $5,048.06 fine on May 9, 2023, after an inspection found that employees could've fallen from as high as 15 feet at a two-storey house.
WorkSafeBC stated a worker was standing on a plant spanning two sections of roof.
The public report added they weren't wearing any protection gear and no guard rails were in place during construction, considered a "high-risk violation."
As well, WorkSafeBC said Great Mann "failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety."
In February, the company was fined $2,524.03 for creating a 12-foot fall risk, also at a two-storey house in Coquitlam.
No safety guards
Meanwhile, a Surrey business also exposed employees for a double-digit fall risk while conducting framing work at a three-storey house.
B Brothers / Batth Framing was issued a $2,500 penalty on May 11, a separate WorkSafeBC report explained.
While at the Coquitlam site, an inspector saw someone along an "unguarded edge" of the first floor 14 feet above the ground.
And the report said the employee was also a representative of the Metro Vancouver company.
"The firm failed to ensure fall protection was used, a repeated and high-risk violation," WorkSafeBC stated.
In 2021, the organization received 4,050 claims related to falls from a high elevation, resulting in nearly 500 serious injuries and six deaths.
