Worker seriously injured at Trans Mountain site in B.C.; construction stopped

The Canada Energy Regulator says a contractor was seriously injured Dec. 17 at a construction site for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project in British Columbia.

Chief executive officer Gitane De Silva said in a statement Wednesday that her thoughts are with the person who was hurt, their family, fellow workers and others affected.

An emailed statement from Trans Mountain confirmed that an employee of a contractor was seriously injured at the Burnaby Terminal on Tuesday afternoon.

“The individual remains in hospital in stable condition and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” the statement said.

De Silva noted the injury was reported to the Canada Energy Regulator and its safety specialists were on-site Wednesday. She said those specialists will oversee the company’s investigation and conduct an assessment of risk and potential non-compliances.

Both the regulator and the company noted that Trans Mountain’s construction operations in the Lower Mainland have been stopped.

The Canada Energy Regulator added that the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee for the project has been notified.

“Trans Mountain is fully co-operating with WorkSafeBC and the CER,” said the statement from De Silva.

Oversight of occupational health and safety measures for the expansion project is a shared responsibility of the Canada Energy Regulator and provincial authorities.

“Any incident is one too many,” De Silva added in her statement. “Every day, on every work site, people have the right to feel and stay safe. This sad occurrence brings home why we must always keep safety as our priority.”