The Harmac Mill in Nanaimo has been fined $284-thousand after the death of an employee 2 years ago. WorkSafeBC determined the forest products company failed workers in several ways.
37 year old Chris Fletcher died on March 25th 2016 after a hole formed in the wood chip pile he was standing on, taking him into the hopper and through a conveyor system into a chip bin.
The investigation determined Harmac had not conducted a risk assessment or developed safe work procedures for the reclaim pits. As well the edges of the pits were also not guarded or marked to indicate a potential hazard, and workers were regularly required to stand at the edges as part of their work practices.
In addition, the conveyors operated automatically with no method to alert workers, and there was no means of escape when the worker fell in and was covered by wood chips.
WorkSafeBC ruled the company failed to ensure machinery was safeguarded -- a "high risk violation", failed to provide adequate written safe work procedures; and that they repeatedly failed to provide workers with necessary information, instruction, and training to ensure their health and safety.