A construction worker died Sept. 6 after falling 25 metres at an AgPro grain elevator in Winnipeg.
The accident happened while the 31-year-old man was dismantling an enclosed walkway between two annexes at the elevator, said Geoff Bawden, executive director of Manitoba Workplace Safety and Health.
Bawden said the walkway on which the man was standing gave way. Cause of the collapse was not known as of Sept. 8.
Bawden said it likely will take three weeks to complete the joint investigation being carried out by his department and Labor Canada.
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The accident points to the need for caution among construction workers when dealing with the kind of heights involved in last week’s fatality, Bawden said.
“Over the last year, we have had quite a bit of construction mayhem, with quite a few falls,” he said.
“Falls are one of the major killers of construction workers.”
Construction work becomes more dangerous at this time of year, said Pete Walker, health and safety representative for the Manitoba Federation of Labor. Contractors become rushed with the approach of winter, creating an added element of risk.
“They have an awful lot of things at stake, especially their bonuses and the penalties if they don’t get things done.”
Walker said the onus should be on employers to make sure workers are properly trained in workplace safety.
“The employers need to be more committed than anybody,” he said. “They have the power in the workplace.”
The man who died was the owner of the company contracted by AgPro to dismantle the walkway.
AgPro is a division of Saskatchewan Wheat Pool.
