River’s Reach Pub has heeded WorkSafeBC’s advice following a workplace tragedy that resulted in the death in one of its chefs.
Surrey resident Sanjeev Kainth, a father of two young children, died in hospital following an accident in the pub’s kitchen on March 22.
“At approximately 3:33 p.m., March 22, 2017, a worker fell onto a running meat slicer. The worker’s arm was nearly severed,” stated WorkSafeBC in an email to the Record after the accident. “Initial aid was administered on site and the worker was extracted to hospital but succumbed to his injuries.”
On March 23, a WorkSafeBC occupational safety officer visited the local business and made a couple of observations.
“I observed a Hobart mixer that was not fitted with a safeguard to ensure that a worker cannot access the mixing arm while the mixer is in operation,” stated the inspection report. “This exposes workers to the risk of serious or fatal injury, including bone fracture and/or amputation. This is in contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation Section 12.2(b).”
According to WorkSafeBC, the employer agreed to remove the mixer from service and has replaced it with a new mixer that’s equipped with an interlocked guard.
During the March 23 inspection, the occupational safety officer also observed that River’s Reach Pub’s kitchen has slippery surfaces and a worker wasn’t wearing non-slip footwear. This is a contravention of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, which states that non-slip footwear must be worn if a workplace has slippery surfaces.
When visiting the premises on April 13, the WorkSafeBC officer noticed that six of six kitchen workers and three of five serving staff were wearing non-slip footwear.
“The remaining two servers were aware of the policy and stated that they intended to obtain non-slip footwear within the employer’s policy deadline,” said the inspection report. “The employer has posted notices of the requirement for all staff to wear non-slip footwear.”
A WorkSafeBC occupational safety officer who visited the site after the incident found that River’s Reach Pub had complied with outstanding orders. The inspection report states that further enforcement action may be taken as a result of the findings of the investigation that’s underway into the March 22 incident.
According to WorkSafeBC, the incident investigation report is in progress.
