EVERY WORKER

EVERY WORKER
A WSN HEALTH AND SAFETY MAGAZINE
President’s message
A fall can change everything
Joel Swartz, the director of Metron Construction
Corporation, a Toronto constructor, was fined
$90,000 after pleading guilty to violations of
the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA)
after four workers were killed and another
worker was seriously injured.
On December 24, 2009, six workers were on
a suspended work platform, also known as a
swing stage, at a construction project on Kipling
Avenue in Toronto. The swing stage collapsed
and fell 13 floors, killing four of the workers and
seriously injuring another worker. The only worker properly attached
to fall protection was held by the lifeline and pulled to safety.
A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the deceased workers
had not been properly tied off to a lifeline, and had not been properly
trained in the use of fall protection. The swing stage had been
overloaded and it was later determined to be defective and hazardous.
Swartz pleaded guilty under the Act to failing, as a director, to take all
reasonable care to ensure that:
• workers did not use a defective or hazardous swing stage;
• the swing stage was not loaded in excess of the weight it was
meant to bear;
• workers were adequately trained in the use of fall protection by a
competent person.
Metron Construction Corporation was convicted of criminal negligence
causing death and was fined $200,000 in relation to the same incident.
In honour of the men who died and the one who was injured, please
read the life-saving information on safely working at heights in this
issue of Every Worker. On Page 4 Mike Mitchell shares the devastating
consequences (28-inch incision, 97 staples, 9 six-inch screws) of
falling only six feet off a ladder. On Page 10 we look at how not to fall
off mobile equipment. And on Page 6 we look at what’s critical when
prevention fails – a rescue plan. Do you have one?
We hope you discover some new solutions to old problems in this issue
of Every Worker, and we welcome your feedback. Drop me a line and
let me know what you think.
WORKPLACE SAFETY NORTH
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North Bay, ON P1B 9P1
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WorkplaceSafetyNorth.ca
The information in this publication is
accurate to the best of our knowledge.
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of this information, nor does it endorse
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exception of those produced by WSN.
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Candys Ballanger-Michaud
President & CEO
candysballangermichaud@workplacesafetynorth.ca
EVERY WORKER
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