WorkSafeBC says it has limited jurisdiction over a Victoria construction site where a crane operator was impaled earlier this week.

Mike Dorval was operating a mobile crane on Tuesday when it toppled into a pit and landed on its side. He was impaled on a piece of metal rod and remained trapped in the crane for two hours before emergency crews could pull him out.

The accident happened at Shelbourne and Ryan streets, just outside the city's core, where Dorval was working as a volunteer to build a Kingdom Hall for Jehovah's Witnesses.

Dorval, a licensed crane operator, was taken to hospital, where he had emergency surgery to remove the rebar from his side.

Donna Freeman speaks for WorkSafeBC, which is reviewing the accident.

"Preliminary information is that this involved volunteers working to build a temple," she said.

"We're confirming that that's the case, but if this was a volunteer activity, WorkSafeBC's enforcement jurisdiction does not apply. That said, this is a construction site and there may be other workers under our jurisdiction who have access to the site."

A spokesperson for the Jehovah's Wittnesses' building committee said the group would consider any recommendations WorkSafeBC makes.