The government’s decision to lift the prohibition (stilts have been illegal for more than 40 years in Ontario) comes after the drywall industry and affiliated groups had lobbied government for the last decade to give them the okay. Ironically, while the province steadfastly opposed their use, they were legal in a number of provinces, the Yukon, and many states in the US.

What is particularly interesting about stilts (and likely had a significant bearing on the government’s decision) is that the findings of a six-month ergonomic study at the University of Waterloo in Kitchener showed stilts might actually be safer to use than benches, the traditional means for tapers and insulators to reach ceilings in the province.

The study found stilts to be “far less harmful over the long term on repetitive strain than benches,” says Jim Steketee, the Construction Safety Association of Ontario’s manager of the labour-management department.

The industry’s efforts to lift the prohibition were prompted by changing working conditions in the highrise and lowrise residential sector. Ceilings are getting higher (10 and 11 feet), which makes it difficult for finishers to work from a bench or a ladder.
At press time, only minor changes in the language of the new provincial regulation had to be worked out, says Bill Nicholls, business manager and secretary-treasurer of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, (IUPAT) District Council 46. Nicholls, who played a key role in orchestrating the efforts to see an end to the prohibition, believes the regulation could be in place by November. It will apply to stilts no higher than 30 inches.

Rob Bucci, director of Woodbridge-based Maple Drywall Inc., a large drywall contractor in the Greater Toronto Area, says the new regulation is good news for his company. Like many drywall contractors in the area, Maple Drywall has been subject to fines of $5,000 when its subcontractors (tapers and insulators) were caught on stilts by MOL inspectors.

While Maple took a “zero tolerance” stance to the use of stilts on all of its residential sites during the prohibition, that didn’t stop subs (paid on a piecework basis) from using them illegally, says Bucci, noting that even though the contractor regularly patrolled its sites for rule breakers, the subs continued to take chances. “The problem is that within a few minutes of you leaving that site, the workers are getting off the benches and putting their stilts back on.”

Hugh Laird, executive director of the Interior Systems Contractors Association (ISCA) of Ontario, has been lobbying the government for more than 10 years to lift the prohibition on stilts. While stilts speed production up, he says the foremost issue has always been safety, not production.

He hopes that WSIB (Workplace Safety and Insurance Board) insurance premiums will drop when stilts are legal because they have proven to reduce repetitive strain injuries associated with work on benches.

Once the regulation is in place, only trained and certified tapers and insulators will be permitted to use stilts in residential applications. To qualify, workers must complete a training program offered through ISCA’s training centre. Workers on stilts that don’t have proof of certification could face fines.

Contractors could also be ticketed if worksites are improperly protected against mishaps, says Steketee. The new regulation will require barriers near open stairways, covers for vents, guardrails that are 30 inches higher than usual, and removal of all potential tripping hazards.