Contractor handed $150K fine after Kamloops concrete collapse

A company was fined nearly $150,000 for worksite failures that led to a concrete collapse in Kamloops this spring.

Pagnotta Inc. was contracted to pour concrete for a downtown Kamloops parkade as part of the massive City Gardens residential project. Despite following its own designs, the wrong supports were used and caved in under the weight of the fresh concrete.

WorkSafeBC investigated the March 5 incident and handed the company a $144,729 fine last month.

“WorkSafeBC’s investigation determined that vertical post shores used to support the formwork were inadequate,” a notice to its website reads.

The failure to adhere to its own design and ensure the safety of workers at the site were deemed “high-risk violations.” WorkSafeBC also found the firm repeatedly failed to ensure each temporary or permanent structure was “capable of withstanding any stresses likely to be imposed.”

The nearly 1,300-square-foot concrete slab was the final pour atop the three-level City Gardens parkade. Workers were halfway through the pour when it collapsed around 9 a.m., March 5.

Among the 12 workers immediately surrounding it, one electrician was left with minor injuries, according to the investigation report.

Kelson Group, which leads the project, resolved the matter with WorkSafeBC with a commitment to ensure safe practices in the future, company president Jason Fawcett said.

“We would like to thank our on-site team of safety representatives and superintendents for their diligence in building out and implementing good safety practices, so that when an event occurs like it did, we can react quickly to ensure the safety of those on-site,” Fawcett said in an earlier statement to iNFOnews.ca.