Calgary building safety response teams

Coordinated Safety Response Team

The Coordinated Safety Response Team (CSRT) provides a coordinated approach to identifying potentially unsafe conditions on Calgary construction sites or buildings and conducts comprehensive joint reviews, inspections and investigations of these sites. Members of the CSRT include:

• The City of Calgary: Safety Response Unit, Calgary Community Standards, Calgary Police Service
• Occupational Health and Safety Alberta
• ALERT - Green Team South
• Alberta Health Services

Safety Response Unit

The Safety Response Unit is a City of Calgary team designed to act quickly, responding to incidents and helping to ensure public safety around construction sites and buildings. They proactively build strategies that enable the construction and building industry to decrease risk through identifying hazards.

Responsibilities 

• Manage all emergency incidents
• Respond to and manage citizen complaints
• Participate in community outreach programs
• Inspection of construction sites, unsafe and derelict buildings
• Investigate all incidents that occur on sites where safety has been compromised
• Proactively build strategies to reduce risks to the public
• Identify potential hazards through inspections
• Remediation/demolition of marijuana grow-op sites

Construction site safety resources

Safety Response Unit Timeline

August 2009 - Three-year old girl struck and killed by a piece of construction material
Her death prompted the immediate formation of the On-Site Safety Committee in September 2009. The tragedy has not been nor will be forgotten. Her death and the critical injuries to her brother and father have been a major catalyst for change in Calgary. We have taken a firm stand on unsafe construction sites and as a result, have seen significant improvements and construction site public safety policy shifts.

January 2010 - Construction industry workshop
Industry identifies and suggests best practices to mitigate construction hazards, bringing together 1,000 years of construction experience

June 2010 - Development of Advanced Weather Forecasting System
System becomes operational in September 2011, utilized to provide construction sites with advance notice of windstorms

July 2010 - City publishes the On-Site Construction Safety Best Practices
Partnership with the Calgary Construction Association

October 2010 - Safety Response Unit created
Safety Response Unit begins responding to and investigating construction site incidents

February 2011 - The City is awarded the maximum fine of $15,000 against the owner and contractor involved in the death of the three-year-old
The City commences lobbying the province to increase the maximum fine levels - December 2012 the maximum fines increase to $100,000 for a first offence and $500,000 for subsequent offences

April 2011 - Public Protection Site Safety Plan developed
June 2013, the Public Protection Site Safety Plan becomes a requirement

September 2014 - Annual scholarship in three-year-old’s name introduced at SAIT

Commencing in 2014, effective January 2017 - Development of the Building Maintenance Bylaw, which was approved by City Council in June 2016. It better protects the public by requiring the exterior of Calgary’s buildings that are five storeys and higher, 10 years and older to be visually assessed for necessary repairs every five years. 

Questions or concerns?

Contact 311​​​​​​