Many workers at residential construction sites in Alberta are still not using harnesses to protect them in case they fall off a roof.
An inspection campaign by Alberta Occupational Health and Safety officers between Sept. 12 and Oct. 11 showed a third of the orders issued involved fall protection — 131 out of 394.
A total of 67 out of 83 stop-work orders issued were due to a lack of fall protection.
Out of 611 inspections of 387 employers in the home residential business, 394 orders were issued.
Red Deer was among the communities that inspectors visited.
Fines to both the worker and the home builder for not using fall safety gear will be under consideration by Human Services Minister Dave Hancock, who is responsible for Occupational Health and Safety.
Hancock “is keen on implementing on-the-spot fines or ticketing or a penalty process of some sort,” said Barrie Harrison, OHS spokesperson, on Tuesday.
“We’re in the process right now of developing policy that will be reviewed by the minister. It is possible we could see changes to legislation even within the next year.”
In the meantime, OHS officers will continue to step up inspections by carrying them out in evenings and on weekends.
Dan Ouwehand, president of Canadian Home Builders’ Association, Central Alberta, said home builders should not automatically be fined.
“If they are evaluating and assigning the blame where it lies, that means they’re giving the employer the opportunity to prove that they’ve done due diligence before giving them a fine, then I certainly don’t have a problem with it,” Ouwehand said.
“There is a responsibility not just to the worker to keep themselves safe and comply, but also to the employer to require those things and enforce them themselves.”
Some workers say fall safety gear slows them down.
“When they say it slows me down, they say I’m not making as much money as I could. That’s a bit of a false argument because people are willing to pay for professionalism.”
And people don’t want someone to be injured or die falling off their roof, he said.
Ouwehand said educating workers remains a challenge. Home builders are working with contractors and the Alberta Construction Safety Association to encourage workers to take the safety association’s Certificate of Recognition safety program.
As a result of the campaign, home builders will be now be notified if a subcontractor is issued a stop-work order. That didn’t happen before.
Harrison said failing to use fall protection is a chronic problem.
“Many times when (OHS) come across crews that are not using fall protection, a vast majority of the time the equipment is on site. It’s in the back of their truck or it’s on the ground,” Harrison said.
Workers are required to use fall safety gear if they are more than three metres off the ground, for example if they are on a second-storey roof or on the roof peak of a bungalow.
Alberta is in the process of adding 30 new OHS officers over the next three years. There are now about 100 officers.
Harrison said thousands of random inspections are conducted annually.
“Even if we don’t have a focused safety inspection on residential construction, it doesn’t mean we’re not on residential construction sites every day in this province.”
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com