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August 06, 2024 - 7:00 PM
A North Okanagan contractor has been fined $19,000 after crews were found to have been working on a water pipe in a six-foot excavation that didn't meet legal standards.
According to a June 27 WorkSafe BC penalty notice, D Webb Contracting was working in Salmon Arm when WorkSafe BC found two construction workers in the hole.
The workers were connecting water lines, but the hole that had been dug hadn't been sloped or supported.
"A worker was about to enter the excavation with a saw to cut PVC piping, this would have put the worker at high risk of injury if they were kneeling or working low to the ground and the excavation were to cave in," a WorkSafe BC report reads.
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"The firm failed to ensure that, before worker entry, an excavation over 1.2 metres in depth was sloped, benched, shored, or otherwise supported as specified in writing by a professional engineer."
The hole was between four and six feet deep.
The penal notice says this is a "repeated and high-risk violation" but doesn't give details on how many times the firm has done this before.
The report states that the company fixed the issue before the inspector left but the firm was given a $19,148 fine.
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