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Improper forklift usage a factor in electrician's death: coroner

Improper equipment usage was a contributing factor in the August 2015 death of 42-year-old Robert Kenneth Davison, the B.C. Coroners Service has found. Coroner Courtney Cote ruled Davison’s death, of a blunt-force head injury, was accidental.
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A rough terrain forklift tipped in Metchosin, on McVicker Road on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015.

Improper equipment usage was a contributing factor in the August 2015 death of 42-year-old Robert Kenneth Davison, the B.C. Coroners Service has found.

Coroner Courtney Cote ruled Davison’s death, of a blunt-force head injury, was accidental. Incorrect use of a forklift contributed to the accident, Cote noted in her report.

Davison, an electrician working for VI Electric on the wiring of a home under construction in Metchosin by Westwater Developments, was hit on the head by a utility pole being installed by a Westwater employee using a rough-terrain forklift.

The report notes that as the utility pole swung, it caused the machine to tip over, and the pole hit Davison.

Davison was pronounced dead at the scene.

The coroner’s report points out the forklift being used to move the pole was not suitable for the job.

“They are typically used to move palletized loads or other loads from grades to elevation. Based upon the design criteria, it is not designed to erect utility poles, specifically not on the terrain at the site with a grade varying between 20 to 24 per cent,” Cote wrote.

The report also details multiple violations of both the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations, including a lack of safe work procedures and proper training.

Cote’s report said that an expert hired by the RCMP during its investigation of the death concluded that “the accident was preventable.”

“Had the use of safe work procedures been in place, a risk assessment would have been conducted and identified the hazards associated with installing the utility pole on a significant grade with the [forklift]. The risk assessments would have compelled the owner and operator to review the hierarchy of control measures to mitigate the risk and associated standards.”

A WorkSafe B.C. investigation into the accident is ongoing.

aduffy@timescolonist.com