March 3, 2010

In wake of toddler death, committee will study Calgary construction safety

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

In the aftermath of a toddler’s death from falling construction debris, the City of Calgary and the local construction industry have formed a committee to study safety.

“The city, Occupational Health and Safety and the Calgary Construction Association decided that with the incidents that occurred we would take a look at reviewing safety practices and develop a best practices guide for construction,” said Dave Smith, executive vice president of the Calgary Construction Association (CCA).

“We want to bring out a guide and publish it for everyone, whether they are members or non-members.”

The group originally met last fall to look at the issue of wind gusts and unsecured materials on high-rise buildings in downtown Calgary.

They have now formed a committee to address safety on and near construction sites.

“It really came to the forefront with the gusts of wind in 2008 and the volume of construction in Calgary, which was astronomical in 2007,” said Smith. “If you added up all the construction in Manitoba and Saskatchewan in 2007, it was only half of the volume of Calgary. During the boom, there were too many unknown factors, such as inexperienced workers and the rush to meet schedules.

“We are now trying to rectify these problems.”

Smith said the best of the best in the industry have been brought together to create a 40 member taskforce.

The main objective of this taskforce is to develop a best practices guide in four areas: materials and equipment on site; hoisting of material; hoarding; and traffic control management.

These best practices will be implemented into the Certificate of Recognition program, which is available to all members and associate members of the Alberta Construction Safety Association.

One of the committee’s first actions has been to explore the feasibility of engaging a vendor to provide an early warning weather system and to develop a best practices construction safety guide.

According to Smith, a draft of the best practices guide will be produced in 30 days and there will be something published within 90 days.

“Spring is just around the corner and we want to make something available before the Chinook winds arrive,” he said.

The three construction companies charged under the Alberta Building Code in the death of a three-year-old girl in downtown Calgary last summer have pleaded not guilty.

The owner of Le Germain hotel-condo project, Germain Residences Ltd., general contractor Grenville-Germain Calgary Limited Partnership and the subcontractor-Flynn Canada Ltd face a six-week trial starting Jan. 31, 2011, in provincial court.

An intense wind storm on Aug. 1, 2009 caused an individual piece of metal roofing material and a bundle of five sheets of metal roofing to fall from the Le Germain building.

The bundle, which weighed about 500 lbs, fell from 22 stories and hit a group of people on the sidewalk across the street.

Michelle Krsek, 3, was pronounced dead at the scene and her father, Miroslav, and seven-year-old brother, Eric, were severely injured.

The charges were laid Sept. 21 and each company faces one charge relating to allowing an unsafe condition.

In December, a City of Calgary lawyer handed over a large amount of material gathered in the course of the investigation to the lawyers representing the defendants.

The city said the information mostly pertains to construction site storage practices.

The companies charged reviewed the material provided to them and returned to court to enter a plea.

Given the extensive amount of material gathered in the investigation, this could be just the beginning of a lengthy judicial process.

A piece of scaffolding fell from the 19th storey of the Penn West Tower on 9th Avenue and crashed onto a parkade ramp on Sept 26. No one was injured by the debris.

A small crane dangled off the side of the Bow tower and dropped its load on Sept. 26. A tether stopped the crane from plunging three stories to the ground.

The crane smashed a window as it dangled over the side.

Print | Email | Comment