Recently a scaffolding accident at a TransCanada project in the oilsands region caused the death of a 29 year old contractor. According to both TransCanada and Alberta Occupational Health & Safety an electrician fell 29 metres from scaffolding. The contractor was working with the company Horton CBI Ltd. And the fall was fatal. Mark Cooper, the spokesperson for TransCanada, issued a statement which said “We are deeply saddened by this and our first thoughts are with the family of the worker, as well as his employer.” The company suspended work at the site immediately after the accident so that the workers on the project could grieve and an investigation could be initiated. Foul play has been ruled out bu the Wood Buffalo RCMP and the fall from the scaffolding has been ruled an accident by law enforcement.

So far investigators have not determined whether the scaffolding accident at the TransCanada project was caused by the worker slipping and falling off the structure or if there was a problem or defect with the scaffolding that caused the fall. According to Christine Wronko, the spokesperson for OHS, the project where the accident occurred was located approximately 90 kilometres to the north of Fort MacMurray, and it was a tank farm. The project is part of the Northern Courier pipeline. The investigation has not been concluded yet and all the details of the accident have not been made public at this point. When the investigation is finished hopefully further answers will be found, and TransCanada has been fully cooperative with investigators.