Kelowna roofing firm fined $40,000 by WorkSafeBC

A Kelowna roofing company has been fined $40,000 after safety inspectors found a worker hadn’t attached their fall protection harness.

According to a May 20 WorkSafeBC penalty notice, JV Roofing was at a job site in Penticton when the provincial inspectors stopped by.

“WorkSafeBC inspected the site and observed a worker near the edge of the flat roof installing torch-on roofing membrane. The worker was wearing a fall protection harness but was not attached to a lifeline,” the WorkSafeBC penalty notice reads.

WorkSafeBC says no other safety measures were in place and the worker was exposed to a 30-foot drop.

“The firm failed to ensure fall protection was used, a repeated and high-risk violation,” the notice reads.

This is the second fine the company has been issued this year.

In March, JV Roofing was fined $20,000 after WorkSafeBC found workers on a two-storey flat roof without guardrails or fall protection roof anchors in place. Ladders attached to the roof were also found to be unsecured.

“The firm failed to provide its workers with the information, instruction, training, and supervision necessary to ensure their health and safety,” the penal notice reads.

In 2023, the firm received $30,000 in fines for two separate incidents, both where workers were wearing fall protection harnesses that were not connected to lifelines.

The current fine is the fifth the company has received in two years.