A man was injured on Thursday, March 10 while breaking apart a vessel at the Nanaimo Shipyard site. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

workplace injury

Worker seriously injured while tearing down ship on Nanaimo’s waterfront

Mar 10, 2022 | 4:30 PM

NANAIMO — A man was taken to hospital with significant lower body injuries after a metal beam fell on him at a worksite.

The incident happened at Nanaimo Shipyard around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 10 and involved a male worker dismantling the decommissioned Coast Guard vessel W.E. Ricker.

“He was cutting down a beam, it looks like it fell faster than expected and had him pinned under the beam,” Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief Stuart Kenning said on scene.

The man was taken to hospital with what Kenning described as significant lower body injuries.

He was conscious while being tended to on scene.

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Kenning said co-workers managed to remove the beam from the victim before emergency responders arrived.

Co-workers sounded their emergency alarm and called 911 as the injured man was temporarily trapped.

An on-site crane was used to hoist the injured worker from the vessel’s elevated deck to a waiting ground ambulance.

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The W.E. Ricker is currently being dismantled after serving as a Canadian Coast Guard research ship. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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