Requirements For Openings In Work Surfaces
Falls Through Openings Can Seriously Injure Workers—and Cost the Company.
Here are just a few examples of the consequences for workers and companies from falls through openings:
- A worker pre-raking concrete on the 12th floor of a construction site fell through an uncovered • floor opening to
the 10th floor and was seriously injured. His employer was penalized $85,750 [Viper Concrete 2000 LP, AB Govt.
News Release, Sept. 13, 2010]; - Workers covered a roof opening with a sheet of plywood but didn’t secure it. Another worker, who didn’t know
the sheet covered an opening, lifted it and stepped forward, falling through the opening to a concrete slab and
suffering serious injuries [BC hazard alert, July 2006]; - Two workers lifted a piece of plywood covering a roof opening and as they moved, one worker fell through the
opening it had been covering. He broke both arms and injured his head, back and internal organs [NB hazard alert,
Jan. 2011]; and - A worker fell through an uncovered opening in the floor of a work platform to the bottom of an empty concrete
well and was paralyzed. His employer was fined $150,000 [International Cooling Tower Inc., ON Govt. News
Release, Feb. 22, 2008].
