Bentall Tower deaths highlight construction site dangers 36 years on

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s been 37 years, but Bruce and Dianne Stevenson still remember the day they got the terrible call. On January 7th, 1981, Bruce’s younger brother, Brian John had died while working on a construction site in downtown Vancouver.

The 21-year-old was one of four workers who fell 36 floors to their deaths when the platform they were standing on collapsed during the construction of the Bentall Centre’s Tower IV.

“He was a dynamite young man. He was very active. He was a track and field runner and set records at Kitsilano High School. He was a hot-dog freestyle skier. He was a real sweetheart,” Dianne said, laughing as she recalled Brian John’s humour and the nickname – little creampuff – he had for her.

Every year since, on the anniversary of the tragedy, a small group of workers, activists and politicians have gathered at Art Phillips Park, across the street from the long-since completed Bentall Tower to honour the memories of the four men and the more than 1,000 others who have lost their lives on job sites across the province since.

On Monday, 44 red and white roses were laid on the memorial, one for each of the workers who lost their lives last year either on the job site or because of what they were exposed to at work.

“This is a recommitment to make certain that everybody that is working in construction gets the message; be safe, work safely,” BC Building Trades director Tom Sigurdson said.

“We do have contractors that cheat, lie and steal and they’re actually cheating, lying and stealing the lives of young workers who are not aware that they need to have protection.”

The construction industry continues to see the highest number of work-related deaths in BC. A worker at a plywood producer in Richmond was killed on Saturday.

Of the 44 who died last year, 27 deaths were from work-related diseases and exposure to harmful environments, such as asbestos.

Sigurdson applauded WorkSafeBC’s efforts to prosecute companies that have knowingly exposed their workers to the toxic insulator.

He also recognized the safety milestones that have been made, including more inspections at residential construction sites. He also reflected on a recent project in Northwestern BC which, in its 23 million working hours, saw minimal incidents and no deaths.

“We know we can make these places safe and we’re going to do what we can to make certain that we continue to improve making construction work sites safe,” he said.

Although it cannot replace a life, the work to make job sites safer offers Bruce and Dianne some comfort for the loss of Brian John.

“His life meant so much to him,” Dianne said. “And you hope at this point his death means something too.”