A parkade collapse at a construction project in Langley Township last year was the result of design changes that were not clearly communicated to the crews building the project, a WorkSafe B.C. investigation has determined.
The WorkSafe inspection report on the incident was released this month in response to a Times request under Freedom Of Information guidelines.
On March 17, construction crews were pouring a concrete slab for the parkade at a new condominium complex on 66 Avenue near 203 Street around 3 p.m. when the supporting form work gave way.
Two workers fell through the collapsing form work, the report says.
One worker managed to hang on to some concrete reinforcing rods and was rescued by fellow workers, while the other person fell to the level below.
No serious injuries were reported, but “this platform failure had the potential of incurring multiple worker injuries and/or fatalities,” the written report states.
“This employer has failed to ensure that a temporary structure, the false work, form work was capable of withstanding stresses likely to be imposed on it,” the WorkSafe inspector adds.
False work refers to temporary structures used to hold up something under construction until it can support itself.
Form work refers to the concrete molds held up by false work.
According to the WorkSafe report “field design changes” to the project were not “clearly identified” in the instructions, including a 15-inch drop in the concrete slab “with no associated details on the [engineering] drawings.”
As well, the written engineering instructions and drawings governing construction of the parkade didn’t include setting limits on the height, rate and sequence of pouring concrete to “prevent overloading of the formwork and to ensure the stability of formwork during the concrete pour.”
And support pieces were not properly marked to permit field identification and ensure accurate assembly, the report says.
The WorkSafe report says the written instructions “did not include sufficient connection details, enlarged where necessary, to clearly describe the formwork, false work to ensure its accurate assembly.”
It orders the employer to revise the instructions and drawings to set allowable limits for concrete pouring, to write down “field changes” and post them on the construction site “without delay”, and to make changes to better identify false work and form work pieces for accurate assembly.
A follow-up report provided by WorkSafe shows all conditions were met.
