Prince George,  B.C. –  WorkSafe BC  and  the Coroners Service continue to  investigate  a work related death in Prince George  which occurred  on August 9th.According to a release from WorkSafe,  a man was killed while  working on  a tractor in  the Prince George area.  WorkSafe reports the man was jump starting a tractor when it moved unexpectedly, pinning him under the rear wheels.

The man’s name has not been released.

This is the  3rd fatality involving equipment or vehicles rolling over workers in the past  10 months.   The other two  occurred in the Fraser Lake and Ladysmith areas,  and in both cases, workers were doing maintenance  work under vehicles.

WorkSafe says details of the  August 9th  fatality  are not yet  known,  but  has issued some safety information  to prevent  further tragedies:

• Doing work around the shop or office will have risks that are often overlooked. Stop, assess the risks and come up with a plan to do the work safely, even when doing routine tasks in these locations.
• Locking out all machinery including wheeled equipment is very important when performing maintenance. Follow the lock out procedures on the BC Forest Safety Council’s website if your company does not have any for particular pieces of equipment.
• Upset conditions create high risk situations that lead to many incidents. An upset condition is anything that is out of the ordinary for you or your operation; including sickness, stress, equipment breakdowns or unusual weather conditions.

The  death of  this man  was the first of two work related fatalities in the Prince George area this month.  Earlier this week, a woman, who was  doing traffic control  at  a road construction project  at West Austin Road and  Highway 97,  was struck and killed by a vehicle.  Her name has not yet been released.  WorkSafe, the RCMP and the Coroners Service continue to  investigate that death.