This site will look much better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

WorkSafeBC

banner image

This page contains summaries of Notice of Incident (NI) reports received by WorkSafeBC. This information may help you to prevent similar accidents in your workplace.

THE NI INFORMATION IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Some details have been edited to protect the privacy of workers involved.

Completed WorkSafeBC investigation reports for selected Manufacturing incidents are available online.

Manufacturing - Incident Summaries

All Sectors | Construction | Manufacturing | Primary Resources | Public Sector | Service Sector | Trade | Transportation & Warehousing | Young Worker

Manufacturing incident summaries from other dates

2009 - (updated October 19, 2009)

Injury Type : Close call  
Core Activity : Gas production
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009124490100
Date of Incident : 2009-Aug

At an active sour gas processing facility (a facility that produces hydrogen sulfide gas), a 4-inch pipeline ruptured, releasing sour gas into the atmosphere at the site. Workers were immediately notified of the rupture and release, and they evacuated the site. The emergency shutdown system for the plant was successfully activated without injury or exposure to the four workers employed in the area.
Injury Type : Serious foot injuries  
Core Activity : Wooden box, crate, pallet, or lath manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157600178
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

A round had just been cut off a log. A young worker used his foot to roll the round toward a skid-steer front-end loader fitted with a grapple bucket. As the grapple bucket closed on the round, it caught the worker's foot.
Injury Type : Scrapes, bruises  
Core Activity : Wood product manufacture
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009156160198
Date of Incident : 2009-Aug

A worker was waiting for a forklift to remove a waste container. Behind him, a second forklift backed up with a load of wood. It struck and pinned him against the waste container.
Injury Type : Crushed fingertip  
Core Activity : Smelter
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009093720199
Date of Incident : 2009-Aug

A young worker's finger got caught in the pinch point of an anode rack.
Injury Type : Fractured leg  
Core Activity : Erecting steel I-beams
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009165810108
Date of Incident : 2009-Aug

As a worker cut the last of three steel bands off a 13-foot bundle of I-beams, the I-beams suddenly released and landed on his leg.
Injury Type : Crushed hand  
Core Activity : Plywood manufacture
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009157380217
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A worker opened the inspection plate to a small conveyor to check for moisture. The conveyor, which was not locked out, cycled automatically while the worker's hand was inside.
Injury Type : Close call  
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009034450242
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A planerman entered a trim saw house to change a 22-inch trim saw blade. Just as he finished changing the blade, a worker inadvertently restarted the saw system. The planerman immediately exited the saw house area. Earlier, his lockout procedure had been interrupted when another worker tried to troubleshoot a separate problem. The planerman had not finished applying all of the locks required to lock out the saw blades securely.
Injury Type : Partially amputated finger  
Core Activity : Planer mill
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009124120203
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A young worker was moving fallen 2x4 boards off a limit switch arm using a pike pole that was anchored to an outfeed chain. The pole jammed in the chain run, flung backwards, and pushed the worker's fingers against the stacker infeed chains.
Injury Type : Fatal
Core Activity : Wire cable manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157410215
Date of Incident : 2009-Sep

A 600-ton press was operating when its die assembly was ejected, fatally injuring a worker.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Window installation
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009117670202
Date of Incident : 2009-Aug

A work platform with a telescoping boom was being used to install windows. When the platform needed to be repositioned, the boom was retracted and traffic control was set up. A car travelling at high speed contacted the base of the platform.
Injury Type : Smoke inhalation (6 workers)
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009157440205
Date of Incident : 2009-Aug

An edger operator heard a bang and immediately noticed flames beside the edger. By the time he had radioed to report a fire, flames had reached the ceiling. The mill was evacuated, but the edger operator and five nearby workers suffered from smoke inhalation. Local firefighters extinguished the blaze, whose cause is unknown.
Injury Type : Leg abrasion, bruising
Core Activity : Installing rebar cage
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009163710235
Date of Incident : 2009-Aug

While moving an 18-metre-long rebar cage, a zoom-boom forklift became unstable and tipped onto one side. Two riggers operating tag lines were not injured; the forklift operator sustained minor injuries.
Injury Type : Crushed fingertip
Core Activity : Concrete product manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009104270151
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

A worker was using a long screwdriver to hold back a mechanical sensor while resetting a concrete block moving machine. The screwdriver's slot end was pinched by a loaded rack of concrete product, causing the screwdriver handle to pin the worker's finger against the machine.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Oil or gas well completion
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009158820218
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

During well completion, an uncontrolled release of natural gas occurred. A hole was eroded during a casing coupling operation as part of a high-pressure fracturing (process to stimulate the gas formation to release its resource).
Injury Type : Bruising
Core Activity : Oil and gas trucking
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009124490095
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

An oil field tank truck was leaving an oil production facility hauling a load of produced water. The access road was muddy and very slippery, and the truck began to slide into the ditch. The driver stopped the truck. As the truck sat on the edge of the road, the shoulder gave way and the truck slid sideways into the ditch and rolled onto its side.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Planer mill
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009124120191
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A self-propelled telescopic boom lift was being serviced from the ground when its boom contacted a 25-kV power line.
Injury Type : Fractured hip
Core Activity : Control panel manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009108620125
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A worker was carrying material while descending a 6-foot stepladder. He lost his footing and fell to the concrete floor.
Injury Type : Amputated finger, broken finger
Core Activity : Pulp mill
Location : BC
ID Number : 2009110210107
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A worker was inserting wood blocks in a wood grinder when he lost his footing.
Injury Type : Amputation of hand
Core Activity : Shake and shingle mill
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009108440292
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A worker was trimming cedar shingles when his hand contacted the running blade of the band saw.
Injury Type : Loss of consciousness, scrapes
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009157580172
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A worker entered a confined space (about 230 cm deep by 100 cm diameter) to shut the valve on a 2-inch water line. When the worker reached the bottom of the space and leaned over the valve, he lost consciousness. A worker who was standing by called for help. Three workers removed the unconscious worker from the confined space.
View three short videos about identifying, testing, and rescuing from confined spaces:
http://www2.worksafebc.com/Publications/Multimedia/Videos.asp?ReportID=35168
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Highrise window installation
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009165410059
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

Windows were being installed on the 32nd floor of a newly constructed highrise. A worker had placed a window into an opening when he was called away to do a different task. Another worker was assigned to finish installing the window. The second worker did not realize that the window was unsecured. As he began to work, the window fell out of the building and landed on the ground, 20 feet outside the marked danger area.
Injury Type : Electric shock, head laceration
Core Activity : Elevator servicing
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009112010025
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

While working on top of an elevator car, a worker contacted a live 270-volt wire. The electrical current caused the worker to repeatedly hit his head against a wall until he was able to break free.
Injury Type : Broken ribs, punctured lungs
Core Activity : Cleaning dump truck wheel rims
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009152480196
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

A worker raised a loaded dump truck with a 20-ton hydraulic jack in order to buff the truck's aluminum rims. When the jack either failed or kicked out, the worker was pinned under the truck's wheels. The worker, who was working alone, remained pinned for 5 to 6 hours before managing to free himself and drive to hospital.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009111110268
Date of Incident : 2009-Jul

A 10-ton load of pile pipe (70 feet long, 36 inches in diameter) was being lifted by two separate machines. At one end of the load was a 20-ton hoist with a non-rotating telescopic boom. At the other end was a 36-ton forklift. The load became unstable, causing the hoist to fall over.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Elevator installation
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009112850160
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

During the installation of a two-storey elevator motor, the fibre rope attached to the lifting device failed and the motor fell down the elevator shaft (about 20 feet).
Injury Type : Exposure to organophosphate insecticides (21 workers)
Core Activity : Recycling facility
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009104070098
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

During sorting at a recycling facility, workers noticed a strong odour. Twenty-one workers developed nausea and headaches and were sent to hospital for observation. The building was evacuated and a hazardous materials team was brought in. The team collected five pesticide containers from the sorting area. Either one or two kinds of organophosphate insecticide had spilled. Ventilation of the building continues.
Injury Type : Burns to arm and back
Core Activity : Heavy equipment manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009165590033
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

As a worker was welding together two pieces of stainless steel, the worker's clothing caught fire.
Injury Type : Minor injuries
Core Activity : Food product manufacturing
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157410140
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

A worker was pulling a cart loaded with food, weighing about 150 kilograms, to a packaging area. The cart tipped over onto the worker. The worker's head struck the concrete floor.
Injury Type : Temporary loss of consciousness
Core Activity : Plastic recycling
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009128220079
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

A worker was found unresponsive near an open 480-volt panel on an extrusion machine.
Injury Type : Multiple lacerations and contusions
Core Activity : Abrasive blasting
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009107200084
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

A worker (pot tender) accessed the area under the pressurized sand blasting pot to change a sand blasting hose. While changing the hose at the manifold, the worker was struck by pressurized abrasive grit released from an adjacent hose connection.
Injury Type : Brain injury, lacerations
Core Activity : Window installation
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009137290104
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

A worker was manually manoeuvring a window when it toppled onto him, knocking him to the pavement.
Injury Type : Broken leg
Core Activity : Marine vessel servicing
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009114550147
Date of Incident : 2009-May

Workers were installing a pressure-fit sleeve coupling over a joint on a marine vessel drive shaft. A shaft coupling tool appears to have failed, causing it to open and strike one of the workers.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Marine pleasure craft manufacture
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009112850140
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

During the pre-use inspection of a 3-ton electric hoist with an attached 400-pound spreader bar, the upper limit switch failed and the hoist continued to lift beyond the limit switch. The force applied by the lifting motor caused the lifting chain to fail. The spreader bar dropped about 20 feet to the ground, narrowly missing the hoist operator.
Injury Type : Multiple injuries to arm
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009034450199
Date of Incident : 2009-May

A worker had finished welding bolts on a transfer belt tailspool and was cleaning the running deck. The worker's glove snagged on the bolts, and his hand was drawn into the transfer belt scraper.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Paper mill
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009110210078
Date of Incident : 2009-May

A worker was using a hoist equipped with a spreader bar to transfer a reel spool (4,800 pounds) from the #2 paper machine to the #2 rewinder backstand. The spool was about 4 inches above the spool holder when the hoist cable snapped. The spool dropped into the holder, and the spreader bar landed on a reel spool of paper and against the spreader roll.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Installation of windows on highrise
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009165810046
Date of Incident : 2009-Jun

A corner window post, weighing about 300 pounds, fell 20 storeys along the outside of a highrise building under construction. The post hit a cross-member of a scaffold, then landed 30 feet away from the scaffold. The post narrowly missed a worker on the second level of the scaffold.
Injury Type : Lacerations to hand
Core Activity : Wooden component manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157600119
Date of Incident : 2009-May

A young worker was trimming boards at a planer. Wanting to move one piece, he reached past the safeguard and his hand contacted the saw blade.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Paper production and rolling
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157600106
Date of Incident : 2009-May

Workers had finished coring up (reloading) a rewinder shaft, which requires the shaft to be cantilevered by clamping the journal of one side of the spool. A worker was trying to lower the shaft puller in order to free the shaft and core held up by a hoist. The clamp on the back side was not disengaged, however, and one of the hoist cables snapped. No one was injured.
Injury Type : Broken hip
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009157440147
Date of Incident : 2009-May

A worker was on top of a 2x6 lumber bundle removing 4x4 dunnage. As he was getting off the load, he slipped and fell to the ground (about 6 feet).
Injury Type : Amputated fingertip
Core Activity : Meat processing
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157410115
Date of Incident : 2009-May

As a worker was cutting meat with a band saw, one finger contacted the blade.
Injury Type : Foot fractures
Core Activity : Metal manufacture and refining
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009111970097
Date of Incident : 2009-May

A worker was leaning on a guardrail to check the flow of effluent in a splitter box when the railing broke. The worker fell forward but was able to land on his feet.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Metal recycling facility
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009163800051
Date of Incident : 2009-May

A worker was repositioning a car crusher trailer in a metal recycling yard when the hydraulic cylinder of the crusher unit snagged a power line. The attached utility pole broke off at ground level and fell across the truck.
Injury Type : Crushed vertebrae, fractured wrist
Core Activity : Planing mill
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009129160733
Date of Incident : 2009-May

Two workers were doing maintenance on a drive unit for the infeed belt conveyor of a debarker. One of them was welding from a ladder about 8 feet above grade. The ladder was secured against the interior wall of a waste conveyor that was not locked out. When the conveyor started, the ladder shifted and the worker fell to the ground.
Injury Type : Temporary loss of consciousness, puncture wound to hand
Core Activity : Sheet metal fabrication
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009110750348
Date of Incident : 2009-May

A worker went into shock after one hand was punctured by a sheet metal screw.
Injury Type : Arm amputation
Core Activity : Food product manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009165830019
Date of Incident : 2009-May

A worker was placing dough in the unguarded hopper of an energized top-loading dough mixer. The blades of the mixer amputated one of the worker's arms.
Injury Type : Contusion and possible concussion
Core Activity : Sheet metal fabrication
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157410101
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

A worker had exited a lift truck to place dunnage under a load. The worker was standing behind the lift truck carriage and bent over to place the dunnage. As he stood up, the worker struck his head on the carriage.
Injury Type : Fracture, lacerations
Core Activity : Paper recycling
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009163730126
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

At a paper recycling facility, two workers were repositioning the primary screen basket using an overhead crane. One worker inadvertently activated the crane's remote control, causing the crane to move. As a result, two of the three bolts securing the screen to the under-the-hook lifting device snapped. One arm of the lifting device came up and struck the other worker.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Replacing window panes
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009161950456
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

As eight workers were removing a pane of tempered glass from a third-floor window, the pane shattered and fell to the ground. No one was injured.
Injury Type : Possible exposure to hazardous substance
Core Activity : Plastic product manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009144660059
Date of Incident : 2009-May

Workers in a manufacturing plant detected an unknown odour. The building was evacuated and the fire department attended the work site.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Wood preserving
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009110210057
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

A loader was on the back side of the peeler deck, helping to manipulate a pole onto the carriage. When the job was finished, the loader backed up and struck a pothole. The loader's forks rose and caught the cable attached to the peeler shed wall, tearing it from the building.
Injury Type : Crush injury to hand
Core Activity : Machine shop
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009104270108
Date of Incident : 2009-May

As a machine operator tried to put a part in the chuck of a vertical lathe, one hand was crushed between the spindle (chuck) and the tool turret of the lathe.
Injury Type : Large leg contusion and pain
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157600091
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

Three workers had just replaced the anvil in the hog that mechanically crushes ("chews") bark and other wood by-products. The hog door had been raised using a come-along winch. As the workers were closing the hog door, the come-along chain came loose and the door fell onto a worker's leg.
Injury Type : Electric shock
Core Activity : Food product manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009156730166
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

A worker was standing on a table trying to insert a plastic scraper in a metal food-processing machine. The worker sustained an electric shock, and fell about 3 feet to the concrete floor.
Injury Type : Injured vertebrae
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009161750075
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A worker was struck on the head by a piece of lumber that fell off a conveyor.
Injury Type : Crush injury to leg
Core Activity : Strip steel slitting and cutting
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157520116
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

An 1,800-pound slit steel coil fell off a coil car and struck a nearby worker.
Injury Type : Sore back
Core Activity : Log home construction
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009058250131
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A prefabricated log home was being loaded onto a flatbed truck. A worker was on the truck using a rope to pull a post into place when the rope broke. The worker slipped off the side of the truck and landed on his back in the snow 8 feet below.
Injury Type : Serious burns
Core Activity : Brewery
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009034450101
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A worker noticed a leak from the man hatch of a brew kettle and tried to tighten a locking knob to increase seal tension. The brass threads in the knob pulled out, causing the hatch to release. The worker was scalded by hot mash.
Injury Type : Undetermined injury
Core Activity : Plastic recycling
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009158750074
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A worker was on a work platform doing maintenance on a machine when he fell about 10 feet.
Injury Type : Severe lacerations
Core Activity : Shake and shingle mill
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157600053
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A saw operator cut a round off a short cedar log in the log-haul conveyor. The round became lodged between the end of the log-haul conveyor and the apron of the transfer deck. A second worker tried to dislodge the cedar round using a picaroon. The picaroon came loose as the worker was pulling on the piece, and the worker fell backward into the unguarded running circular saw, which was in the retracted/neutral position.
Injury Type : Arm injuries
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009070890017
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A worker reached inside a bull edger, between the outfeed press roll and the line bar, to loosen a stuck safety pin. As the pin was struck with a hammer and came loose, the press roll dropped onto the worker's arm. The equipment had not been properly locked out.
Injury Type : Laceration
Core Activity : Structural metal fabrication
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009066220020
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A worker operating a vertical turning machine was struck by a stringer.
Injury Type : Shoulder/arm injury
Core Activity : Marine manufacture
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009160850049
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A worker was on a 3-foot stepladder on a boat under construction. An unsecured bulkhead shifted, and the worker fell from the second rung of the ladder and struck an adjacent boat.
Injury Type : Crushed fingertip
Core Activity : Wood product manufacture
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009130570091
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A worker was doing a visual/tactile check of a bundle of oriented strand board (OSB) on a grade line. The worker leaned against the side of the bundle with one hand and checked the cut end with the other. A side press activated and crushed a finger on the leaning hand.
Injury Type : Partial amputation of arm
Core Activity : Aluminum window manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009113830086
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

A worker sustained a partial amputation while using a chop saw to cut cardboard.
Injury Type : Amputated fingertip
Core Activity : Sheet metal fabrication
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009163730115
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

A worker was operating a punch press. As the worker removed a part that had just been punched, the machine unexpectedly cycled.
Injury Type : Undetermined injuries to back, pelvis, leg, arm
Core Activity : Manufacture of fire dampers
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009147280072
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

As a worker was retrieving a 20-foot piece of pipe from storage racking, the racking tipped over. Metal stock struck and partially covered the worker. The job-built racking 20-foot-long piece of 1-inch-diameter pipe from job-built angled cantilever
Injury Type : Amputated fingertip
Core Activity : Wood product manufacturing
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009111110129
Date of Incident : 2009-Apr

A worker's fingertip was amputated as he used his hand to test the temperature of the side head pressure plate that aligns boards going through a planer.
Injury Type : Lacerated fingers
Core Activity : Fish processing
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009157490062
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A worker was sanitizing a fish processing machine when one hand was pulled into the conveyor belt.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Sawmill operations
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009034450125
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A log truck trailer was hoisted on a bay of a trailer hoist for reloading onto a log transporter tractor. As the hoist operator walked back to the cab of his truck, the trailer fell to the ground. The winch cable had been completely unspooled from the drum so that the hoist lifted the trailer in the reverse direction. Reverse winding negates the brake action in the hoisting winch. A similar incident happened in the other bay about 2 months earlier.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Modular home construction
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009034450133
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

During construction of a modular home, workers were lifting a roof section using a spreader bar attached to three separate chain hoists. As the roof was lifted, the attachment points (holes drilled in the top truss member) failed. The roof section fell to the ground.
Injury Type : Hand laceration
Core Activity : Railing and awning fabrication
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009156580095
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A worker was cutting a piece of aluminum railing with a chop saw when the piece of railing kicked back and struck the worker.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Chip truck operation
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009154930116
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A chip truck driver was throwing a tarp rope over his loaded trailer. The rope landed on a 25-kV overhead power line, and the driver felt a small electric shock. The rope and truck remained energized until the rope burned off.
Injury Type : Chest and back pain, bruising
Core Activity : Painting concrete pump booms
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157600067
Date of Incident : 2009-Mar

A worker was lying on his back on a work platform 10.5 feet above grade (the shop floor), painting a section of a raised concrete pump boom. The worker fell from an unguarded end of the platform, struck a parts cart, then landed on the shop floor.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Sawmill operations
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009034450124
Date of Incident : 2008-Dec

A log truck trailer was hoisted on one bay of a trailer hoist for reloading onto a log transporter tractor. As the hoist operator walked back to the cab of his truck, the trailer fell to the ground. The winch cable had been completely unspooled from the drum so that the hoist lifted the trailer in the reverse direction. The winch drum braking system does not work in reverse spooling.
Injury Type : Broken bones
Core Activity : Planer mill
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009058250102
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A worker was injured when he slipped on ice.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Pulp mill
Location : BC
ID Number : 2009146890024
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A leak occurred at a primary valve on a chlorine dioxide storage tank at a pulp mill. Nearby homes and businesses were evacuated.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Concrete delivery
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009117080080
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A concrete delivery truck was backing up into an alley. It knocked over a utility pole supporting low-voltage power lines. No traffic control person was being used to assist the driver as he backed up.
Injury Type : Serious foot injury
Core Activity : Wooden component manufacture
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009154970105
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A worker's foot was caught between the frame of a scissor feeder hoist and the edge of a pit opening.
Injury Type : Undetermined injuries (likely fractures, internal injuries)
Core Activity : Food product manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009147280026
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

A worker was manually moving a mobile incline pan conveyor (4.75 feet long, 2.5 feet wide, 8.75 feet high) in an alley. He was later found beneath the tipped-over conveyor.
Injury Type : Amputated fingertips
Core Activity : Sheet metal fabrication
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009154930036
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker was using a power roller to cut sheet metal when his fingers were caught in the machine. The power roller did not have adequate safeguards.
Injury Type : Lacerated fingers
Core Activity : Woodworking shop
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009147280020
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker was trimming a narrow piece of fibreboard on a table saw when his fingers contacted the saw's blade.
Injury Type : Fractured vertebra, bruising
Core Activity : Oil and gas well drilling
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009158820039
Date of Incident : 2009-Feb

As a 30-foot length of casing pipe (7 inches in diameter) was being lowered, the lifting clamp contacted another piece of drilling equipment. The contact caused the latch on the clamp to release and the clamp opened. The suspended pipe dropped and struck a young worker.
Injury Type : Crushed foot
Core Activity : Forklift operation
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009156240026
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker was operating an unloaded counterbalanced forklift on flat, snow-covered pavement. The forklift skidded sideways over a mound of frozen snow, then rolled onto its side. The worker's foot was crushed between the forklift and the pavement.
Injury Type : Serious burns
Core Activity : Foundry
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009112850014
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

As molten metal was being transferred from the ladle to a mould, some of it spilled and burned a worker.
Injury Type : Crushed fingers
Core Activity : Baked goods manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009064400001
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

As a worker was feeding dough into a bun-forming machine, one hand was caught in the in-running feed rolls. The feed rolls were not guarded.
See a video clip about a young worker who lost three fingers in a similar incident:
http://www2.worksafebc.com/Publications/Multimedia/Videos.asp?ReportID=34941
Injury Type : Amputated fingertip
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Central Interior
ID Number : 2009058250029
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker was releasing tension on the V-belt drive of the 12-31 edger unscrambler. The worker struck the belt with a hammer, which partly released it, then put one hand on the belt to "nudge" it. The rest of the energy released and the worker's hand was dragged around the pulley. The power had been shut off.
Injury Type : Multiple fractures
Core Activity : Window installation
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009161950378
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A mobile mini-crane was being relocated. As it descended a sloped soil grade, it fell onto its side. The crane's operator (a young worker) was crushed and pinned under the machine, which weighed about 2200 kilograms.
Injury Type : Serious burns
Core Activity : Marine vessel repair/modification
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157600011
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A young worker was using an oxyacetylene torch to cut metal rings off a vessel's deck when his clothes caught fire.
Injury Type : Serious injuries to finger
Core Activity : Sawmill
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009140970026
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker was repairing a pocket chain on a log sorter. He directed the sorter operator to "drop the pocket." The dropping equipment caught the wrench the worker was using, which in turn pinched the worker's finger.
Injury Type : Crushed fingers
Core Activity : Industrial equipment manufacture
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009110750050
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker was shearing pieces of 3/8-inch square bar on a 110-ton press. As he reached one hand into the press to remove a piece of jammed steel, he inadvertently stepped on the foot pedal, activating the machine.
Injury Type : Amputated finger
Core Activity : Wooden truss manufacture
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009157270014
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker reached behind a running circular saw to clear a small wedge of wood that had become stuck in the back plate. The worker's hand contacted the blade of the saw.
Injury Type : Fractured foot, abrasions
Core Activity : Chimney flashing installation
Location : Lower Mainland
ID Number : 2009110110119
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker was installing sheet metal flashing on a damp, aged cedar shake roof with a slope of 8:12. The worker, who was not protected by a fall protection system, slipped and fell about 20 feet to the concrete patio below.
Injury Type : Close call
Core Activity : Gas production
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009153370012
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

During a coiled tubing completion operation at a natural gas well, a malfunction in the coil tubing injector head caused a "runaway" of the coil tubing string into the well bore. The runaway occurred at a depth of about 2400 metres as the coiled tubing was being pulled from the well. The injector head was supported by a truck-mounted crane, and the forces created by the coil tubing runaway caused the crane's turret bolts to fail. The injector head and the crane both collapsed to the ground. The crane operator was not at the controls of the crane and was not injured. The wellhead was damaged below the point where the blow-out preventer (BOP) attaches to the wellhead. Well control would have been compromised if the well had been completed into a natural gas producing formation.
Injury Type : Possible exposure to chlorine gas (4 workers)
Core Activity : Pulp mill
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009140970006
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

After production at a pulp mill had been curtailed for more than a week, the bleach plant began to transfer chlorine dioxide via an outdoor pipe-bridge line. Soon after the transfer began, a leak was detected on one side of the chlorine dioxide plant. Four workers inside the carpenter's shop 30 metres from the chlorine dioxide plant reported being exposed to chlorine dioxide gas.
Injury Type : Fatal
Core Activity : Fibreglass product manufacture
Location : Vancouver Island
ID Number : 2009147050259
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

A worker was welding casters onto a 45-gallon drum when it exploded. Parts of the drum struck the worker.
Injury Type : Crush injuries to arm
Core Activity : Wood product manufacture
Location : Northern BC
ID Number : 2009163790004
Date of Incident : 2009-Jan

As a worker was cleaning dust from the photo eye of a bundle lift unit, the machine inadvertently cycled and caught the worker's arm.


You can return to the Top of this page

 

"Manufacturing" incidents from other dates