WorkSafeBC Finds Six Safety Orders Against Dexterra SkyTrain Cleaning

WorkSafeBC inspectors issued six outstanding safety orders against Dexterra’s SkyTrain cleaning operations after finding health and safety violations across Vancouver’s Expo and Millennium lines, the agency confirmed in a June 18 inspection report. The company faced a July 13 compliance deadline. It did not meet it.

The orders cover a range of worker protections that failed. Dexterra did not ensure cleaners completed mandatory health and safety orientation, did not keep training records, and lacked a written check-in procedure for employees working alone. Workers exposed to blood or bodily fluids were not offered Hepatitis B vaccinations. Written safe work procedures for cleaning near active rail platforms – the yellow line – were absent. Emergency eyewash stations were not provided at some stations.

SEIU Local 2, which represents the cleaners, released the report. Sanchit Sharma, a union member and SkyTrain worker since 2023, said workers had raised these issues before, including at a TransLink Board meeting. “It’s shocking that when workers brought up these very issues, we were ignored,” Sharma said. “And instead of fixing these issues ahead of the deadline, Dexterra hid the report from us.”