Wind closed construction sites near where man died

Some contractors working near the site where a man fell to his death on Thursday stopped working because of the wind, CBC has learned.

A 21-year-old worker from Lower Sackville plunged six stories and died. It was the second accident at the Clayton Park site within the last month.

Michael Kydd, the president of the Merit Contractors Association of Nova Scotia — an association that represents non-unionized construction companies — said contractors working in the same neighbourhood on Thursday stopped work because it was so windy and they felt unsafe.

"Some of the contractors that I've spoken to indicated to me that they were working in the area on different residential projects and some commercial projects and realized how windy that was," Kydd said.

"They were high up on buildings and decided that they needed to shut down their sites and get off the roofs because of the environment."

The Department of Labour would not confirm whether it is investigating windy conditions as a factor in the young man's death.

Alleged violation

On Friday, an excavator was seen in the area and the Nova Scotia Department of Labour said it plans to investigate a possible stop-work order violation at the site. They said the order will remain in place until an inspector declares it safe.

The company in question has faced three previous orders about falls, according to department officials. A man fell one floor and broke his legs at the same construction site last month. The employer also faced an order last February at the building next door.

Inspectors noted a lack of fall protection including guard rails or safety nets.

Since January, 28 people have died in the workplace in Nova Scotia. Sixteen of those were what the department calls acute or sudden deaths, which includes accidents. Eleven deaths are labelled under chronic fatalities. It’s a designation for long-term conditions, such as dying of a heart attack on the job.

One person’s death is undetermined.