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TransLink fined $600,000 after worker gets shock at SkyTrain station

WorksSafeBC says work should have been done after hours
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Nanaimo SkyTrain Station. (Wikimedia Commons)

TransLink has been fined $600,000 after a worker was injured while doing electrical work at a Vancouver SkyTrain station last spring.

WorkSafeBC issued the fine to the BC Rapid Transit Company, which operates TransLink.

In documents released last month, the agency said the company violated safety regulations by not properly controlling the energy source in an air conditioning electrical room at the Nanaimo station.

Two employees were working in the room and one was feeding wires into an electrical panel.

The action caused an electrical explosion that WorkSafeBC deemed could have been prevented by properly locking out the panel – something that could have been done had the work been performed after hours.

A transit company representative told WorkSafe it did not have a lockout procedure for that panel.

In a follow-up inspection report last fall, WorkSafeBC said the company has developed a lockout procedure for the electrical panel, told employees when to work and when to not work on that panel, and provided written policies for staff in the event that they do have to work on that panel when the station is open.

In an email, BCRTC said they had “immediately reviewed and adjusted relevant practices and procedures, and ensured staff were made aware of the changes.”