2 years after Kelowna deadly crane collapse, B.C. considers safety improvements

By Zak Vescera, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

British Columbia is considering new rules for tower cranes two years after a collapse in Kelowna killed five people

WorkSafeBC has proposed new regulations, including stronger requirements that supervisors are qualified and rules that safety experts say could bring more inspections of crane worksites.

Chris Vilness, whose son Cailen was one of four workers killed in the 2021 collapse, said if the rules had been in place his son might be alive, and questioned why it took deaths to bring change.

91裸聊视频淚t should have been standard practice. It shouldn91裸聊视频檛 be a reactive regulation,91裸聊视频� Vilness said.

WorkSafeBC announced the proposed regulatory changes July 14, two days after the second anniversary of the collapse, which happened during work on the Brooklyn apartment building in downtown Kelowna.

WorkSafeBC refused to say whether the proposed changes were in response to the 2021 Kelowna collapse.

But Clinton Connell, executive director of the BC Association for Crane Safety, says they closely follow one of four sets of recommendations that businesses, unions and other partners made to the province after the crash.

Connell says the main purpose of the changes would be to alert WorkSafeBC when such cranes are being used, which could help the agency proactively inspect building sites.

91裸聊视频淭he way I read this, it91裸聊视频檚 a notification scheme so the regulator knows when this kind of activity is taking place. It gives the regulator the opportunity to make sure all the right parties are involved,91裸聊视频� Connell explained.

Frank Carr, the business agent for the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115, called the proposed regulations 91裸聊视频渁 step in the right direction.91裸聊视频�

But he said what the union really wants is a formal certification requirement for workers who assemble and dismantle.

Currently, British Columbia requires certification for crane operators but doesn91裸聊视频檛 have an equivalent requirement for people doing assembly and disassembly work, which some in the industry say can be the most dangerous part of the process.

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e hoping it will make industry safer,91裸聊视频� Carr said.

It has been more than two years since Vilness received a call from his ex-wife in Kelowna, telling him there had been an accident at Cailen91裸聊视频檚 workplace.

A 90-metre tall crane had suddenly teetered and collapsed as workers were taking the structure apart. It toppled into a nearby building, killing Brad Zawislak, who was working in a nearby office building. It was one of the deadliest workplace accidents in the province91裸聊视频檚 history.

Today, Vilness and other family members are no closer to understanding exactly what went wrong that day.

WorkSafeBC has completed an investigation into what caused that disaster. But the regulator has refused to release it because the RCMP are still conducting their own criminal investigation, which has no set timeline.

That has left families 91裸聊视频� and the industry more broadly 91裸聊视频� in a sort of limbo as they await the RCMP91裸聊视频檚 report.

Earlier this month, several lawsuits were filed in British Columbia91裸聊视频檚 Supreme Court, with various parties seeking damages and assigning blame in the disaster.

The widows of four of the killed men are suing Stemmer Construction, the Salmon Arm-based contractor that was operating the crane that day. Two of the workers killed were the sons of the company91裸聊视频檚 owner.

Stemmer Construction, in turn, has filed a lawsuit against Liebherr, the multinational corporation that designed and built the crane.

Stemmer Construction claims the manufacturer was aware of a 91裸聊视频渄angerous defect91裸聊视频� that caused the collapse.

That lawsuit, like others, notes the particulars are not known 91裸聊视频減ending the results of investigations by both WorkSafeBC and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.91裸聊视频�

Carr said the Kelowna disaster was one in a series of events that made crane operators, contractors and unions examine safety in the industry.

In 2019, a crane collapse in downtown Seattle killed four people and injured four others. That event, Carr said, led to serious talks in the industry about improving safety.

The IUOE 115 was part of talks with the City of Vancouver that led to a new checklist being used in that city whenever tower cranes are being put up or down, something said Carr had been broadly beneficial.

91裸聊视频淚f there91裸聊视频檚 an accident in Australia or an accident in Europe, the whole industry talks about it. It shakes us up. It reminds us we are vulnerable,91裸聊视频� said Remi Coupal.

Coupal, a longtime crane operator and business owner, says he91裸聊视频檚 been climbing up cranes since he was a teenager accompanying his father to worksites. He remembers watching as Vancouver91裸聊视频檚 Pacific Coliseum was built in the late 1960s.

In those days, Coupal said, there were only a handful of tower cranes in operation in Vancouver at a given time. Today, WorkSafeBC estimates there are about 350 across the province.

Coupal said the scale of that growth 91裸聊视频� coupled with the stiff competition for contracts 91裸聊视频� has brought the inherent safety risks of the job into focus.

91裸聊视频淥ur industry is very competitive, and I think that plays into how things get done,91裸聊视频� Coupal said.

Coupal said safety standards have rapidly improved since the Seattle crash.

But like Carr, he says he91裸聊视频檚 in favour of a formal certification program for workers who assemble and dissemble cranes, though he says it will likely require 91裸聊视频渉uge funding91裸聊视频� from senior governments.

Connell said the roundtable convened by the safety association also recommended the government adopt the certification program.

91裸聊视频淥perating the crane and assembling and disassembling a crane are two completely disciplines,91裸聊视频� Connell said.

Meanwhile in Kelowna, the North Okanagan Labour Council has begun fundraising to build a permanent memorial for the victims of the collapse at a downtown park.

Called the 91裸聊视频淩ISE Memorial,91裸聊视频� the site is to feature a tree for each of the men killed surrounding a central plaza.

Labour council vice-president Kelly Hutchinson told The Tyee in a previous interview that the council wanted the space to both pay homage to the men killed and be a site where the community can come together and rebuild. The council is aiming to raise $300,000 towards its construction.

WorkSafeBC91裸聊视频檚 proposed changes to the regulations around tower cranes are open to the public for comments until Aug. 25.

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