Second crane accident occurs at Oakridge site; Load drops the day after the new crane registration

VANCOUVER – Another crane accident occurred at the Oakridge construction site in South Vancouver.

According to media reports, a crane load fell to the ground near 41st Avenue and Ash Street around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday (October 2).

The Journal of Commerce has sent inquiries to both WorkSafeBC and EllisDon, the company that operates the site.

A previous incident occurred at the construction site in Oakridge on February 21 when a load from a crane fell onto a building under construction. Yuridia Flores, a construction worker, was killed.

This latest incident occurred a day after WorkSafeBC introduced new crane safety regulations in response to the earlier Oakridge incident and several other recent crane accidents.

Earlier this year, WorkSafeBC also consulted with stakeholders to create both the new regulations and an overall strategy to improve crane safety in the province.

A July 12, 2021 incident in Kelowna in which five people died due to a crane collapse marked the beginning of a renewed investigation into crane safety in the province and both RCMP and WorkSafeBC have completed investigations into the incident.

The RCMP submitted its report to the British Columbia Crown Prosecution Service in February of this year for consideration of a charge of criminal negligence causing death.

There's more to come