Horizon North has suspended the daily bussing of their operations staff to and from the Coastal GasLink camp north of Prince George, following a bus crash which injured 18 employees on Friday.
The company, which is part of the Dexterra Group, provides camp services for Parsnip Lodge, located 117 km northeast of Prince George. In a statement issued on Monday, UNITE HERE Local 40 identified the workers as housekeepers represented by the union.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Horizon North said the company takes its employees’ safety seriously. Only 24 employees of Horizon North were on the bus at the time of the crash, not the 30 initially reported by RCMP.
“Given the lodging onsite was at peak capacity, we were instructed by clients to take temporary measures to move an operations team to lodging off-site,” the Horizon North statement said. “However, until our investigation is complete, we are not allowing any daily bussing of our operations teams to or from Parsnip Lodge. With our own investigation of the incident still underway, we are fully cooperating with the RCMP and other government agencies in their investigations as well.”
The company continues to be in talks with UNITE HERE Local 40, including an arbitration process unrelated to transportation safety, the company statement said.
“We continue to offer support to the 24 employees, who were passengers on that bus on June 16th, and to their families to help alleviate any harm that may have been caused,” the company statement said. “Beyond our group EFAP benefits, we have been in touch with each affected employee to offer any further assistance that would help ensure their health and well-being.”
WorkSafeBC is not conducting an independent investigation into the crash, a spokesperson for the agency said in an email.
"WorkSafeBC Prevention officers attended the scene and has requested that the employer complete their own investigation into the incident and submit their report to WorkSafeBC," the spokesperson said. "WorkSafeBC’s OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) Investigations department is not conducting an investigation into the incident at this time."
