Muskrat Falls concrete accident site not yet safe to work on

Work cannot resume on the Muskrat Falls powerhouse draft tube where a major industrial accident occurred overnight on Sunday because the area is not considered safe, says Nalcor.

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"We are working closely with OHS (Occupational Health and Safety) to ensure that all necessary actions to understand the root cause of the incident and to provide for the safety of the workforce have taken place prior to restarting work in this area," said Lower Churchill Project Vice President Gilbert Bennett in a statement Friday.

"Work on the draft tubes will only resume when it is deemed safe to do so." 

Astaldi Canada was near the end of pouring concrete into formwork at the powerhouse in Labrador when unit #2 draft tube collapsed, burying workers in wet concrete.

Seven workers received first aid treatment on site, and one of those workers was brought to hospital in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

None of the injuries were considered serious, and the hospitalized employee was released Monday morning. 

"The safety of our workforce is paramount in all of our activities on the Lower Churchill Project, and continues to be at the forefront as we investigate this incident," said Bennett.  

Occupational Health and Safety Division (OHS), Astaldi and the Lower Churchill Project team are all investigating the accident. 

Bennett said work is continuing in other unaffected areas at the Muskrat Falls site.

He said they are planning to repair the damaged unit #2 draft tube and come up with an overall plan for powerhouse concrete placement. 

"There are many factors that will be considered during this work and it is not possible to determine the schedule impact to the project at this time. We are working closely with Astaldi to minimize overall project impacts," said Bennett.