Toronto company fined $75K after worker killed in trench collapse

A Toronto company has been fined $75,000 after a construction worker died in a trench collapse in 2014.

Officials said the construction crew was in the process of building a new home and had dug trenches on a property near Eglinton Avenue and Caledonia Road on July 24 when a worker “entered the unshored and unsloped trench to clear dirt away which had fallen onto the pipe.”

After going in, the worker was buried when nearby piles of dirt collapsed on top of him despite rescue attempts by colleagues and first responders.

“A worker, the supervisor and two responding police officers jumped into the trench in an attempt to free the trapped worker; however, the commander of the responding fire department ordered everyone out of the excavation,” the Ministry of Labour said in a media release. “Moments later a second cave-in completely buried the worker and the worker died as a result of that trench collapse.”

A Ministry of Labour investigation found Utility Force Inc. failed to provide training to the on-site crew on the hazard of working in trenches or how to shore up the trench.

The company pleaded guilty to violating the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act.