A Trans Mountain spokesperson told KTW the project-wide safety stand down remains in place. “We are in the final stages of our restart planning and anticipate that we will be providing further details on restart dates in the coming days,” the spokesperson said on Jan. 7. When announcing a halt to work in December, Trans Mountain CEO Ian Anderson cited safety issues. On Dec. 15, a contractor was seriously injured in an incident at the Burnaby terminal, where the 1,150-kilometre pipeline ends. On Oct. 27, a worker was killed at a Trans Mountain site outside Edmonton. “Over the past two months, we have seen safety incidents at our worksites that are unacceptable to Trans Mountain. This is inconsistent with Trans Mountain’s proud safety culture,” Anderson said at the time. He did not specify which safety incidents he was referencing.
Work is expected to resume on Jan. 4, 2021. “Our top priorities remain the safety of our workers and maintaining a safe work environment as we continue to work towards the successful completion of this critical Canadian project,” Ian Anderson, president and CEO of Trans Mountain, said in a release. “Over the past two months, we have seen safety incidents at our worksites that are unacceptable to Trans Mountain. This is inconsistent with Trans Mountain’s proud safety culture.” Anderson said the Crown corporation will use the downtime to “review, reset and refocus our efforts and those of our contractors and their workers.”