WorkSafe says safeguards not good enough at Tolko mill

VERNON – WorkSafe B.C. has released some initial findings into the industrial accident that killed a Lumby teen earlier this month.

Bradley Haslam, 18, was caught in a conveyor belt at the Tolko mill in Lavington and killed June 15. His community is devastated by the loss.

An inspection report filed a week later and released today says there weren't sufficient guards in place to prevent workers from getting in contact with the machinery.

The inspection focused on the chipper area where the accident occurred, and found the existing guards were "not effective to prevent contact to the hazardous areas."

It says a common requirement of safeguarding is to physically prevent a worker from reaching around, over, under, and through the guard to the danger area.

Tolko was given an order not to let workers back into the two conveyor belt areas until barriers or safeguards are put in place. The lack of safeguards were in contravention of occupational health and safety regulation policies.

WorkSafe B.C. continues to investigate the accident, and says its final report could take up to another month to complete.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230, or tweet @charhelston