Jan 11, 2023
On Jan. 7, 1981, a fly form on the then under-construction Bentall building collapsed. Carpenters Gunther Couvreux, Brian Stevenson, Donald Davis and Yrjo Mitrunen fell 36 floors to their deaths. On January 6th of this year as in previous years a memorial was held to celebrate their lives, remember others who have died or been injured at their workplace and stress the vital importance of occupational safety practices.
In this episode digital media editor speaks with both Dan Strand, the director of prevention field services for WorkSafeBC, about the current state of construction safety and his organization’s role as B.C.’s safety regulator, and with Brynn Bourke, the executive director of the BC Building Trades about ways to improve work conditions and address not only physical dangers but mentally safe work environments.
Journal of Commerce staff writer Evan Saunders also spoke with Lee Loftus, a retired union activist who currently sits on WorkSafeBC’s board of directors and with Brian Stevenson’s sister-in-law Dianne Stevenson and his older brother Bruce Stevenson about speaking at the event and their memories of Brian.
You can read Evan’s article about the memorial here and listen to The Construction Record on the Daily Commercial News and Journal of Commerce websites as well as on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music’s podcast section. Our previous episode featuring Anthony Henry and Ivan Dawns is here. Thanks for listening.
DCN-JOC News Services