Green Line's CEO stresses safety after 'near misses' on construction sites

A few minor incidents on Calgary's Green Line construction sites are getting serious attention from the project's CEO. 

Darshpreet Bhatti told a meeting of the Green Line board Wednesday that steps have been taken to prevent any safety issues, which could result in serious injuries and delayed construction.

"Safety is crucial and critical to us," he said. "It needs to be taken very seriously, irrespective of the type of damage that may have been created." 

Bhatti raised concerns over three safety incidents last month at sites in the Beltline, located just south of the downtown core, where underground utility work is taking place.  

While no one was hurt in any of the incidents, a gas line service connection was struck, a loader made contact with an unoccupied water truck and a member of the public ran into a construction fence.

None of the incidents resulted in time lost on construction. 

"These were near misses, but they were also an opportunity for us to have lessons learned and take actions," Bhatti said. 

He said that project officials met with contractors, who have agreed to take extra precaution including daily safety audits and improving training for workers. 

"I know sometimes our construction colleagues may feel that we are being overly sensitive of this, but … if instead of a fence it was an individual [that was hit], we would be having a very different discussion," Bhatti said.

Bharat Mahajan, one of the Green Line's nine board members, commended Bhatti for calling attention to the near-misses and establishing safety as a priority. 

"I think that's so critical to the safety success as we go forward, so I want to thank you for doing that," Mahajan said during the meeting.

The nearly $5 billion Green Line project, which is Calgary's largest-ever infrastructure investment, is moving along on several fronts, Bhatti explained to the board. 

So far, the project's cost to date is roughly $783 million, which is in line with projections.

Last month, construction costs jumped significantly relative to spending during the summer, mostly due to utility work underway in the Beltline area.