Critical Injury Results in $75,000 Fine for Vaughan Company

Convicted: Westdale Construction Co. Limited, which owns and operates a high-rise residential apartment building.

Location of Workplace: 50 Cambridge Road, Toronto, Ontario.

Description of Offence: A worker suffered a fall resulting in critical injuries while performing HVAC maintenance work. Westdale should have taken the precaution of providing cautionary signage identifying hazards at the building.

Date of Offence: November 12, 2019

Date of Conviction: March 4, 2022

Penalty Imposed:

Following a guilty plea at the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto, Westdale Construction Co. Limited was fined $75,000 by Justice of the Peace W. Ralph
The court also imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Background:

On November 12, 2019, a worker employed by a company contracted by Westdale to perform HVAC maintenance work was dispatched to the building.
The area on the main floor of the building had had recent demolition work done for the purpose of renovation. The room had dust and debris on the floor from the demolition process.
The floor closest to the door was concrete, but approximately half-way across the room there was a transition to what was a drop ceiling for a room below. That ceiling served as the “floor” for the back half of the room. The two surfaces appeared to be even with each other.
The worker was unable to turn the heat on upon entry to the work area, and began tracing wiring across the room to the back to locate the source of the problem.
The worker stepped onto a suspended ceiling panel at the back area of the room and fell approximately ten feet to the floor of the laundry room below, sustaining critical injuries.
There was a strip of yellow caution tape strung across the back of the room, but no signage to indicate why it was there. There was no signage on the door to the room or anywhere in the room warning of the fall hazards present.
A ministry investigation found that the employer did not take the reasonable precaution of providing cautionary signage at appropriate locations to notify workers of the fall hazards in the work area.
This was contrary to section 25(2)(h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

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