‘There needs to be accountability’ in deadly Kelowna crane collapse: Unions

Now is the time for accountability in the deadly 2021 crane collapse, according two labour unions directly involved in the construction industry.

The United Steelworkers Union and the International Union of Operating Engineers are calling on the Kelowna RCMP and WorkSafeBC to release a now complete labour investigation that they recently announced they were withholding from the public.

In a shared statement WorkSafeBC and Kelowna RCMP said that after 22 months, they’d chosen not to release the WorkSafeBC report, to “protect the integrity” of the ongoing criminal investigation.

“The families of the victims and the public deserve to know what happened and if any criminal elements were present,” Ed Kent, USW health, safety and environment representative for Western Canada, said in a press release.

2:10 WorkSafeBC completes report into deadly Kelowna crane collapse

“If there were such elements, there needs to be accountability. If there weren’t, then we need to know what happened, so tragic accidents can be prevented in the future.”

Kent said if there is an eye on the criminal aspect of these devastating fatalities, it needs to be made clear “what the report found and if employer negligence was to blame.”

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“If employer negligence was found, then it’s time to enforce the law,” Kent said.

“There need to be serious consequences for killing workers, more than just fines. Death cannot be a cost of doing business.”

2:34 Grieving Kelowna mother calls for more workplace safety after her son lost his life while working at a construction site

USW launched a campaign to have workplace fatalities and injuries investigated as criminal events. The campaign’s goals include increased training for law enforcement and Crown prosecutors in using the Westray Law and the appointment of dedicated police officers and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute workplace fatalities when gross negligence is involved.

“It’s quite simple, really – if you kill a worker, you go to jail,”  Kent said.

Similarly, the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 is also asking for accountability sooner than later to create safer working conditions for crane operators.

“Each year, dozens of new crane operators are certified to run huge equipment and, yet, after a serious accident, neither WorkSafeBC nor the RCMP have released the results of their investigations. We need to know what went wrong, how to fix it and what to teach apprentice crane operators to do differently – lives are at stake on these results,” Brian Cochrane, business manager for IUOE Local 115, said in a press release.

Cochrane said efforts to improve crane safety initiatives, especially as it relates to tower crane assembly and disassembly, should involve IUOE Local 115, as it’s the leading trainer and expert on crane safety.

“Delays to investigations related to workplace fatalities are devastating for workers’ families,”  IUOE Local 115 business representative Frank Carr said.

“While these investigations are separate, they are parallel and one should not take significantly longer to complete.”

The union alleged there is a history of employers killing workers and not being held criminally responsible in B.C., citing  WorkSafeBC’s investigation as the reason no one was held criminally responsible for two mill explosions in northern B.C. in 2012.

The second example is the death of Sam Fitzpatrick, who was killed in a workplace accident in Toba Inlet. The related investigation lasted 10 years and resulted in the Crown counsel dropping charges.

The crane collapse killed brothers and crane workers Eric and Patrick Stemmer, as well as Jared Zook and Cailen Vilness. Brad Zawislak, who worked at a building adjacent to the construction site, also was killed when the crane collapsed.

Stemmer Construction was the company contracted to dismantle the crane on the Mission Group building in downtown Kelowna.

On Kelowna’s St. Paul Street, a memorial still stands 22 months after the crane collapse, and there are countless other memorials set out for the men who died.