February 24, 2010

Construction worker falls six storeys to death in Ontario

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

Contrary to some news reports, the death of a 43-year-old worker at a Scarborough-area restoration construction site last week didn’t involve a swing stage, confirmed Ontario’s Ministry of Labour.

“The worker fell from a six-storey balcony of an apartment building,” reported Bruce Skeaff, labour ministry spokesperson. “We do not know how or any other details or the state of that particular balcony at this time.”

The labour ministry first heard of the accident just after noon on Feb. 18, when one of its inspectors happened to be nearby and noticed a Toronto police cruiser pulling into the restoration project site.

The Holl Restoration Inc. employee was on a balcony at Gailong Towers.

Three R Property Management is the owner and manager of the building.

The project notice for the site, filed with the labour ministry in September 2009, outlines balcony repairs and railing replacement as the main restoration.

There have been no field visits by ministry inspectors to the site prior to the accident.

The 2009 >Christmas Eve swing-stage tragedy, killed four workers at another apartment renovation site and involved a modified swing stage that came apart.

The ministry launched an enforcement blitz of suspended platforms at construction sites in early January after the swing stage tragedy.

The blitz is focused on compliance with fall protection requirements, including appropriate fall-related equipment and worker training.

There were no blitz visits to the site of the most recent incident and. Skeaff noted. that the blitz focused on raised platforms.

The worker recently killed was standing on a balcony at the time of the fall.

Unconfirmed reports claim that the worker was wearing a safety harness at the time, but it is unclear whether it was attached when he fell.

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