The janitorial contractor for Vancouver’s Olympic stadium violated the Workers’ Compensation Act because it concealed the death of a worker for almost two years.
WorkSafeBC documents obtained under Freedom of Information said a Modern Cleaners employee “reported a severe headache before a sudden collapse” around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2006 at B.C. Place Stadium.
“The worker was transported by ambulance to Vancouver General Hospital where she was pronounced deceased later that day,” said the incident report.
The worker’s name and cause of death were censored. The death was called “natural” -- an umbrella term that includes old age and disease. WSBC was finally notified Oct. 6, 2008, but no claim was established for the worker.
WSBC officer Alison Camplejohn found Modern broke the law because "an employer must immediately notify the board of the occurrence of any accident that resulted in serious injury to or the death of a worker."
A source said the elderly woman collapsed against a pillar in the section 228 concourse, nine hours after the B.C. Lions’ 2006 West final victory. No first aid attendant was on-site. An ambulance arrived five minutes after a 9-1-1 call.
“She was East Indian, but she was turning white, her mouth was open.” said the source. “About 11 or 12 women cleaners were around her, some were crying.”
Another source said the dead woman’s name was Pritam Kaur Sandhu, which was verified by Modern general manager Canny Atwal.
Minutes of B.C. Place’s Nov. 28, 2008 Occupational Health and Safety Committee meeting said: “This issue was brought to the safety committee and the item was accidentally omitted from the minutes. The committee was told in error that (security supervisor) Eric Borglund had conducted an investigation, but this turned out not to be the case.”
In a Feb. 4, 2009 phone call with Camplejohn, B.C. Place safety officer John Marshall denied the minutes were purposely edited.
"The committee felt that they did not believe it was work related and therefore did not put on the committee minutes."
Bob Mackin reports for Vancouver 24 hours
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sunshine coast girl
2 years ago
I don't think
it's the "committee's" place to decide if the death was work-related or not. That is the job of the Safety Officer and WCB. And whoever falsely told the "committee" the death had been investigated should be found and fired!!! Disgusting news. If I was the family I would sue for everything the contractor has.
southdeltawalker
2 years ago
Double standards?
Gee if some big lug of a guy limps of the field during a game, he gets a cheer.
A South Asian woman dies a few hours later at the same place and it's covered up. Hmmm.
snert
2 years ago
southdeltawalker
There was a cover-up, of what? There was no indication the death was accidental.
"an employer must immediately notify the board of the occurrence of any accident that resulted in serious injury to or the death of a worker."
Just guessing but I'll bet there was no signs of visible trauma to the head which could suggest an accident.
Certainly there were some procedural errors but cover-up, no I don't think so.
Grania
2 years ago
Unreported death of Janitor
Any individual who had anything to do with this should be looking at prison time. Where was the body buried? Was there an autopsy? Lots of questions need answering here...
Van Isle
2 years ago
Snert; If there is any
Snert; If there is any death or accident (and never mind how trivial the injury)on a work site it must be reported, period. It is not the employer to determine how that person died and if it's reportable or not.
snert
2 years ago
Van Isle
That's not what the quote says. The key word here is 'accident'. There is no indication that this incident was such. Further to that the article does not indicate if the police were involved which they could very well have been.
I think that somebody is trying to build a mountain out of a molehill.
Lifeguard
2 years ago
OH&S violations
The worker was 63 years old with a history of medical conditions and no first aid attendant onsite. An abulance was called to the worksite and the patient was taken to hospital. The employer had a Duty to immediately investigate this workplace incident. The Prime Contractor had a Duty to coordinate the process and do everything practicable.
Lifeguard
2 years ago
Security Report
With regards to sunshine coast girls posting, the Director of Security would have received a report on the unreported workplace incident.