Understanding Safety Risks: Incidents
Incidents
Incidents involving work or equipment regulated by the Safety Standards Act are required to be reported to the appropriate safety manager. We investigate many of these incidents to gain an understanding of safety hazards in British Columbia and determine what actions can be taken to manage them.
Incidents reported in 2021
Incident investigations completed in 2021
Increase in incidents reported compared to 2020
Explanation of incidents
Technical Safety BC completes investigations on certain incidents reported to us in all technologies except for rail. We investigate incidents reported to us when:
- Regulated work or regulated equipment is involved.
- Evidence is available to help determine causes and contributing factors.
- A learning opportunity exists to understand and document what caused the incident, and to inform prevention of similar incidents.
Learnings from incidents
As part of Technical Safety BC's commitment to share safety information with clients and the public, we share our incident investigation summaries. The investigations are documented in our enhanced incident investigation report format and organized by technology.
The number of reported incidents increased by 3% compared to 2021.
1. Carbon monoxide exposures remain a serious risk to our safety system
In 2021, Technical Safety BC conducted a comprehensive investigation into gas-burning furnaces manufactured between 1989-2011 by the Carrier Corporation. The investigation was prompted by the hospitalization of eight people across the province due to carbon monoxide (CO) exposure that involved a common brand of residential furnace. Our Incident Investigation team examined the incidents together to ensure that similarities were identified and scrutinized and findings from the investigation were compiled into a detailed analysis known as the Carrier Gas Furnace Report.
2. Technical Safety BC's Ammonia Safety Awareness Program has improved ammonia safety education and reduced risks
Throughout 2021, we worked in collaboration with our partners to pilot, launch, and evaluate the Ammonia Safety Awareness Program. Technical Safety BC and industry partners developed this no-cost specialized education and training program to share best practices for maintaining ammonia refrigeration equipment and systems across their lifecycle. The goal is to enable participants to establish formal maintenance and operational programs to identify, document and manage risks, and make informed budgetary decisions and plans to support the safety of the equipment. More than 170 individuals participated in the Ammonia Safety Awareness Program.
Incidents reported to us by category from 2017 - 2021
Incident Categories
| Under Assessment | Still being assessed by Technical Safety BC and was not assigned to a category as of time of data collection. |
| Severe | An incident that resulted with a fatal injury and/or severe equipment damage. |
|
Major |
An incident that resulted with major injury and/or major equipment damage. |
| Moderate | An incident that resulted with moderate injury and/or equipment damage. |
| Minor | An incident that resulted with minor injury and/or minor equipment damage. |
| Insignificant | An incident that resulted with insignificant and/or insignificant equipment damage. |