Working on taking down what's left of the crane after it collapsed in Kelowna, killing five men.

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

The RCMP are currently leading the investigation into the tragic death of five men when a crane collapsed in Kelowna on Monday, joined by WorkSafeBC and the B.C. Coroners Service.

“When there is any unanticipated death, we assist the B.C. Coroners Service in their investigation,” Kelowna RCMP communications officer Cpl. Jocelyn Noseworthy said in an email to iNFOnews.ca. “On our own behalf, we are conducting an investigation to determine if there was any criminality involved in this incident. That could involve (hypothetically) mischief, negligence causing death, and the potential list goes on.”

If criminality is ruled out, the RCMP will wind up its investigation and turn the site over to WorkSafeBC, she wrote.

For its part, WorkSafeBC says it's conducting interviews, reviewing videos and photos, collecting documents such as equipment operating manuals, written procedures and training records.

“WorkSafeBC will be working with subject-matter experts and engineers to examine the crane components, sequence of events and work procedures that took place during the dismantling process,” Andy Watson, media relations with WorkSafeBC, said in an email. “This will be done to identify the cause of the incident and contributing factors that led to this terrible tragedy.”

Inspectors will also look to see if there were any unsafe acts or conditions and, if so, look into contributing factors along with noting any health and safety deficiencies.

“At the conclusion of a WorkSafeBC investigation, an incident investigation report is prepared,” Watson wrote. “The primary purpose of a WorkSafeBC incident investigation report is to identify the cause of the incident, including any contributing factors, so that similar incidents can be prevented from happening in the future.”

At the same time, WorkSafeBC’s Claims and Rehabilitation Service teams will assist affected workers, employers and family members of the deceased and process claims as quickly as possible, he wrote.

There is no timeline given for how long it will take before the incident investigation report is issued.

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