On Monday, Jan. 7, construction workers, family, friends, labour activists, WorkSafe B.C. officials and politicians gathered to remember the four construction workers who fell to their deaths from the 36th floor of the Bentall Tower IV on Jan. 7, 1981. Brian John Stevens, then 21 years old, would have turned 59 this year.
Others standing on the broken fly-form that day were Gunther Couvreux, Donald Davis and Yrjo Mitrunen.
According to WorkSafe B.C. statistics, there were 32 deaths last year in the B.C. construction industry. While down from last year’s 51 fatalities, the number is staggering when you consider the families and friends affected by these losses.
Partners, parents, children, brothers, sisters, the extended family and a network of friends will mourn the loss of these loved ones for years to come.
Of the 32 deaths last year, 10 were victims of their exposure to asbestos at their construction workplaces. It can take 20 to 40 years from the exposure for the deadly symptoms to manifest. While we can expect more asbestos victims in the years to come, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
On Dec. 30, 2018, new federal regulations took effect prohibiting the sale, use, manufacture and importation of any materials containing asbestos. The federal government action is a result of years of lobbying by building trades unions from across Canada.
It’s only a first step. The law doesn’t cover existing asbestos products found in residential buildings and homes, workplaces, ships and other infrastructure used daily by Canadians. The next steps must address a public registry of buildings with asbestos, regulations around asbestos exposure, safe removal and disposal of asbestos from current buildings and compensation for victims. These regulations fall under provincial government jurisdiction.
The B.C. government is acting. A working group led by the Ministry of Labour has already engaged with the public and identified the next steps in a report released on Dec. 19. The working group is now asking for feedback into recommendations to the asbestos abatement and disposal process.
The working group is calling for your feedback on proposals that would see:
• A licensing or certification requirement for contractors, consultants and surveyors who work with asbestos.
• Options for increasing capacity within B.C. for the safe disposal of materials that contain asbestos.
• Opportunities to create provincially recognized standards and programs for the training of asbestos-abatement workers.
• Opportunities to create an incentive-based program to encourage safe asbestos-removal practices from buildings, such as a home-renovation rebate program to help people with the costs.
The B.C. Ministry of Labour working group recommendations are presented in its December report Keeping Workers, the Public and the Environment Safe from Asbestos.
Please email your feedback on the report to LCS.LABOUR@gov.bc.ca by Feb. 15, 2019 at 4 p.m.
Tom Sigurdson is executive director of the B.C. Building Trades Council, which represents the unionized construction sector in B.C.
