A potential risk of serious injury or death can occur when working near avalanche terrain in BC’s back-country.
WorkSafe BC Forest Industry Specialist Carole Savage says incidents of this nature have been on the rise since 1998.
“So we’ve had 50 accepted time loss injury claims regarding avalanches and three worker deaths with one of those including a land surveyor and a truck driver, so we just want to really be aware of that in those kinds of industries.”
Three of those injury claims took place during the first nine months of 2016.
Employers and workers also need to cover their bases if they plan to work in the back-country according to Savage.
“Employers need to do an avalanche risk evaluation and if they see a risk of avalanches present then they may need to do a risk assessment and then develop a safety plan or program.”
Workers in BC’s primary resource, construction, and adventure tourism industries may be working in avalanche terrain and could face the risk of avalanches at their work sites.
These may include forest service roads, highways, and back country areas.