The Department of Labor & Industries cited Waste Connections Inc. and Leadpoint Business Services for multiple safety violations involving unsafe work in confined spaces at the West Vancouver Material Recovery Center.
Leadpoint, which is a staffing agency contracted by Waste Connections, was cited for 22 serious safety violations and fined $77,600. Waste Connections was cited for 23 serious violations and fined $100,000.
The citations were made after an investigation in July 2014 when a Leadpoint worker was hospitalized from injuries sustained while performing maintenance on a screen sorter – a conveyor system used to sort recyclable materials.
Through that investigation, both employers were cited for seven lock-out/tag-out violations for workers working around moving machinery.
Both companies also were cited for more than a dozen violations for not using safe work practices when entering confined spaces.
And both employers were cited for not protecting workers from exposure to falls while working on unguarded, open-sided work surfaces up to 9 feet high.