Award

24 | AUGUST 2019 Scaold As for the trend towards complete enclosures, Safetech is able to provide scaffolding solutions for containment and removal of hazardous materials in any type of confined enclosure. Additional services including shrink wrap and debris mesh for privacy, are excellent ways to contain a site for safety, and creates a professional appearance. About the only drawback to a busy 2019, as Dunn sees it, is the difficulty in recruiting qualified people to the scaffolding trade. "Some companies are looking as far as Europe and Asia for people who can perform complex assemblies," he says. "With B.C. having no recognized scaffold apprenticeships it makes the search more difficult locally." Paul Tomei, principal at the struc- tural engineering consulting firm of Bogdonov Pao Associates Ltd., says the scaffolding industry in Western Canada is in dire need of more licensed engineers. "We're doing what we can to help a lot of foreign qualified engineers get their credentials in this country, but overall there's a huge shortage of skilled labour, intermediate people with three to 10 years of experience," he points out. Although Tomei says there is little to report by way of technical advances in his profession in 2019, Bogdonov Pao has been busy with a host of projects in Canada, two of the most notable in Metro Vancouver including the massive $7-billion transformation of the Lougheed Town Centre shopping mall into an urban hub of retail, commercial, and residential components (20 towers contributing to nearly 11-million square feet of residential space). Tomei notes, "We recently completed substantial scaffolding for the existing mall and scaffolding in the interior to enable work crews to strip away drywall and trim. It was a tricky job because sections of the mall must remain open, which means that our equipment supplier, United Scaffold, has been working many nights to set up the system." Bogdonov Pao is also the engineer of record for the Empire Landmark Hotel demolition in Vancouver, a project that is utilizing the remote-controlled Brokk system of demolition whereby the building's concrete is systematically crushed from top to bottom; the dust and debris from this process, which can eliminate up to three floors weekly (the Landmark was 42-storeys tall), is contained inside a mast scaffolding around the floor. "We're 20 months into the job and as of mid- June are down to the hotel's podium," says Tomei. Finally, Roger Marsland, outgoing president of the Scaffold Industry Association of Canada, Ontario (SIAC), recently summarized the state of the scaffolding industry in 2019 by discussing what the association has achieved during his tenure. "For years our industry was without a voice at the table on issues that impact the success of our business, the standards of our practices, and the safety of our workers. To help address this challenge, we brought on professional association management and government relations services. With their support, the SIAC has been able to more effectively engage with government on a number of critical issues, including working alongside the Infrastructure Health & Safety Association [IHSA] to establish a new Scaffold and Access Equipment Sector Committee. "I am especially glad to see that the SIAC has developed formal relationships with decision-makers, including the IHSA, Ministry of Labour, and Ontario's Chief Prevention Officer." Looking to the future, Marsland concludes, "The SIAC is in very good hands with Rick McKinlay [as incoming president]. I have no doubt he will do an excel- lent job to build an even stronger association for our members and achieve more for the access industry in the future." A Lougheed Town Centre shopping mall renovation, Burnaby, B.C. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY BOGDONOV PAO ASSOCIATES LTD. Safetech Scaffold.indd 1 2019-07-15 11:46 AM

• Cover