BC company fined $290,000 after worker died from falling pallets

WorkSafeBC has fined a Richmond, British Columbia-based packaging company nearly $300,000 after a worker was struck and killed by falling pallets.

The incident occurred in December 2022 at a warehouse belonging to the Great Little Box Company (GLBC), which produces packaging for a wide range of industries from beauty to manufacturing to food and beverage.

At the time, a forklift driver was in the process of lowering a row of six loaded pallets of boxes that were more than 20 feet high when he left the work station to talk to a co-worker, the agency’s accident report said. Before he could reach the vehicle on the way back, a bundle of two pallets – weighing about 750 pounds – fell on him.

There was no witness to the incident, the report said, but his co-workers searched for him and called 911 after another forklift driver heard the toppled stacks. He later died of his injuries.

In April, WorkSafeBC fined GLBC $290,548.37 for that incident and related “high-risk violations,” specifically detailing the company’s “inadequate” risk assessment, monitoring and training, which it said contributed to the death.

Brad Tindall, president of the GLBC, confirmed the worker’s death in a statement to CBC News.

“We lost a beloved colleague in December 2022,” he said. “This has had a profound impact on the family and our organization, and we find it difficult to put this loss into words.”

He added that the company is working to improve safety at its construction sites.

“We continue to work closely with WorksafeBC and have taken immediate action to comply with their recommendations and instructions. We have implemented new safety enhancements and rigorous training and inspection programs,” Tindall said.

The agency’s statutory maximum fine for 2024 is $783,068.26, and the amount depends on the type of violation, the company’s violation history and the company’s payroll size.

Gaps in security policy

According to WorkSafeBC, the bundle that fell on the worker was “inherently unstable.”

The agency described GLBC’s bundling process as wrapping two loaded pallets in plastic film, adding that the process lacked devices such as straps around the bundle and slats on the pallets that could have helped stabilize it.

There was also no company-wide stacking policy, it is said.

The report also highlighted gaps in other safety policies. For example, GLBC has had a hazard reporting system in place since around 2012. However, WorkSafeBC found that not all incidents involving falling objects were reported and it was “not clear” to workers whether they needed to notify the system when no one was affected or when the problem had already been resolved.

According to the report, there were at least six documented incidents within three years prior to the worker’s death in 2022, including one in which a forklift driver was “grazed” by a fallen pallet.

The agency added that GLBC had “not consistently” followed formal investigation procedures in the matter.

Just one month before the fatal accident, a forklift hazard identification document was produced, the report said. The document specifically highlighted the risk that forklift drivers could be hit by falling pallets.

However, it also states that “the verification of whether corrective actions had been taken was not applicable to this risk,” the agency’s report said.

WorkSafeBC’s penalty database does not show any other fines for the company prior to the April penalty.

However, older agency reports show that GLBC received several health and safety-related orders following inspections at its other Richmond warehouses, including a 2021 incident in which a worker “suffered minor injuries that had the potential to cause serious injury.”