A Kelowna-based company has been fined just under $17,000 after a worker was injured on the job last year.

Rebo Beton Pumping was penalized $16,829 last month in relation to the incident that sparked a fire on Sept. 23, 2020. The company was supplying concrete for a four-storey apartment building under construction on Cawston Avenue.

“During concrete placing, the boom of the pump truck made contact with an energized overhead conductor. A worker for another firm was holding the suspended end of the concrete pump nozzle at the time and was seriously injured. The boom truck also caught on fire and was damaged,” WorkSafeBC said in a penalty notice online.

“The firm failed to ensure that, before starting work close to high-voltage electrical conductors, workers were informed of the existence of such conductors and the safe work procedures to be followed. The firm also failed to ensure that workers and equipment did not enter the limits of the approach of high-voltage electrical conductors,” the penalty summary said, calling both “high-risk violations.”

WorkSafeBC inspection reports show the truck involved in the incident was ordered off the road after the incident, but has since passed an inspection and is back in service.

Rebo Beton Pumping president Mark Bodignon says this is the first WorkSafeBC penalty the company has received in two decades of business.

“It was a very unfortunate accident,” he said. “We take safety very seriously throughout the company and try hard to build a culture of safety.”

“We are still reviewing the findings and are taking every step to prevent this from happening again,” he said, adding the incident is “a chance to become a better company and a safer company.”

He said the company is grateful the incident was not fatal, “accidents happen and the operator made a missjudgement, and we move on and learn from our lessons.”

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/331926/Penalty-issued-after-worker-hurt-on-the-job-in-Kelowna