The Canadian Coast Guard and a federal workers’ agency are investigating after an on-duty lighthouse keeper died in April at a station just off the coast of northwestern B.C., about 40 kilometres west of Prince Rupert.
The Triple Island Lighthouse station is supposed to be staffed by a principal and assistant lightkeeper at all times, but due to a shift change, the coast guard says the man was alone when he died.
The lighthouse is located on the northwesterly rock of a group of three islets known as the Triple Islands and was built in 1920 to guide marine traffic travelling north up B.C.’s coast to Alaska, as well as for deepsea ships navigating to and from Prince Rupert.
The remote station is only accessible by helicopter.
On the afternoon of April 2, the coast guard says it tried to contact the lightkeeper multiple times. Hearing nothing back, it sent a nearby helicopter to conduct a wellness check on him.
When the pilot arrived, they found the lightkeeper unresponsive and called 911. B.C. Emergency Health Services arrived on site and pronounced the man dead.
The RCMP and two members from the coast guard’s Prince Rupert station travelled to Triple Island before turning the matter over to Employment and Social Development Canada, the federal department responsible for working conditions, for further investigation.
The department will be investigating whether the Canadian Coast Guard is in compliance with the Canada Labour Code. Under the Code, federally regulated employers must protect the health and safety of every employee while at work, and ensure they have the necessary information, training and supervision to perform their jobs safely.
WorkSafeBC has said that because the incident took place at a federal workplace, it is outside of its jurisdiction.
“This was a very, very tragic event and very sad that it had to happen,” said Jim Abram, a retired lighthouse keeper and former local president of the Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE), which represents lighthouse keepers.
Abram says the Triple Island Lighthouse Station is extremely important for providing weather observations for marine and aviation traffic, and is concerned that the lighthouse keeper was alone at the time of his death.
He says the station is staffed on a rotational basis where two keepers will work a 10- to 14-day shift and then are replaced by two other keepers.
“Remote isolated stations are not supposed to be staffed by a single person, so that has always been the case as long as I’ve been a keeper,” he said.
Abram says his understanding of what happened in April is that when the two outgoing keepers were picked up during the shift change, only one keeper was dropped off with the supplies.
The coast guard hasn’t provided details on why the lighthouse keeper was alone at the time of shift change, but Abram is hopeful the investigation will shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the keeper’s death.
“In this situation, if there are safety measures that can be taken, if it was a safety issue, then those safety issues need to be remedied by the coast guard,” he said.
“It’s been extremely devastating for the other three keepers. All of them have been extremely distraught because of this. Having somebody die right there on your station is not a happy event.”
UCTE’s Pacific regional vice-president, Barry Tchir, says the union won’t be able to make a formal comment until the investigation is complete.
The Canadian Coast Guard says it expresses sincere condolences to the individual’s family, friends and fellow employees and will continue to support employees, as well as the family, during this difficult time.
