Construction resumes on Children's Hospital after forklift accident

The Saskatoon Health Region has given the green light for crews to resume work on the Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan after construction stopped last Wednesday when a forklift pierced the window of a patient room on the Royal University Hospital’s main floor.

“This really served as a wake-up call for us to reflect back on our processes,” Tom Holfeld, district manager with Graham Construction, said during a news conference Monday.

The continuation of work was contingent on Graham Construction’s safety plan, according to health region CEO Dan Florizone. The additional precautions were then reviewed and accepted, he said.

Graham Construction has now put plywood across all lower-level windows that face the construction site. A “control zone” is also being put in place to separate the construction area from the hospital.

“So a physical barrier that’s going to be two metres away from the structure and that will prevent any equipment from entering in that area,” Holfeld said. “It’s a complicated site. It poses some unique challenges that we typically don’t face on our projects working so close to the general public.”

The company also expanded its field level risk assessment, and Holfeld said employees have been trained accordingly.

Although the room in the day surgery area was empty during last week’s accident, Florizone said the hospital community was shaken.

“We were literally minutes away from having patient care being undertaken in that area,” he said.