In the wake of the tragic scaffolding accident that occurred last Christmas Eve  in which four foreign workers plummeted to their deaths, two Ontario companies now face the prospect of paying $17 million in fines for violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), as well as at least $30 million in lawsuits.

Last December  24, five workers were working from a scaffold on the side of aToronto high-rise, when the scaffolding broke apart, causing the workers to fall 13 storeys to the ground, killing four of them, and leaving the one worker who survived with a broken spine and two broken legs.

After a seven-month investigation, the Ontario Ministry of Labour has announced that it would lay 30 charges against the workers’ employer, Metron Construction, four charges against Swing ‘N’ Scaff, the scaffolding supplier, 19 charges against the directors of each company and eight charges against a supervisor. Among the charges against the companies were; failure to ensure workers used devices to prevent them from falling, failure to ensure the platform wasn’t overloaded, failure to ensure the platform was designed according to safety regulations and failure to ensure the workers were properly trained. The charges against the individuals include improper training of employees.

The companies face possible fines of up to $500,000 for each of the charges, while the individuals potentially face a fine up to $25,000, and up to a year in jail for each charge. In addition to facing the potential fines, 22-year-old Dilshod Marupov, the worker who survived, has also filed a lawsuit against the companies, the building owner and the Ministry of Labour, seeking $16.3 million in damages. The lawsuit claims the workers weren’t trained properly or given safety gear, and alleges the scaffolding was faulty. The ministry is included because the suit claims it allowed the companies to continue operating at the worksite despite two previous stop work orders for safety violations. Marupov’s lawyer has also filed a $14 million lawsuit on behalf of the estate of one of the workers killed.

In addition to the civil fines under OHSA, the employers could also face serious fines and prison sentences based on a criminal investigation under the Criminal Code of Canada. Bill C-45, passed in 2004, expanded the criminal liability of organizations for workplace accidents and broadened the range of individuals who are subject to criminal charges. While there have been previous cases in which Ontario employers in have served jail time as a result of workplace accidents, the Criminal Code has rarely been used since Bill C-45 was passed.

According to the Ontario Federation of Labour, the number of Canadian workers killed on the job has risen over the past 15 years. Altogether, 479 work-related fatalities in Ontario were reported to the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board in 2009.

Since the tragic collapse of scaffolding at a Toronto high rise apartment complex that killed four workers on Christmas Eve, it has been discovered that eight orders, including one stop-work order, were issued by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour to Metron Construction Inc. for the worksite previously.

According to government documents, Metron was ordered to stop work on the apartment building Oct. 20, until safety conditions were improved. Several ministry inspections led to the issuance of five other work orders as well. An order allowing work to resume was issued Dec. 17, exactly one week before the accident.

The work orders included one calling for inspection reports and drawings of roof anchors, warning that “no productive work can be done on swing stages until all orders are complied with and re-inspected.” Others ordered Metron to “provide wire mesh securely fastened in place from the toe-board to the top rail of the guardrails of the swing stages,” to “provide guardrails near the existing guardrail near the boiler room to get access to the swing stages installation at roof,” and to “provide guardrails to work platform being used for access to swing stage near the parking garages.” Another order was issued to ensure that the entire project be outfitted “to support or resist all loads and forces to which it is likely to be subjected without exceeding the allowable unit stress for each material used.” The Ministry further ordered that “no productive work can be carried out from the swing stage” until all work was completed.

The Ontario Federation of Labour has called for a criminal investigation into the accident, and they have noted that the Ontario Criminal Code allows the province to bring charges when there is evidence of negligence causing death or harm to workers.

Five days after the accident, on December 29, the ministry issued a series of future orders, including a demand for an outline of Metron’s health and safety policy as well as copies of all work site contracts and all records of workers’ fall protection training .

By the way, the ministry announced this week the start of a scaffolding safety blitz, due to start within the next week or so. Inspectors will not provide companies with prior warning before inspecting for hazards involving scaffolding. The blitz will take 90 days, and inspectors will follow a zero-tolerance policy for non-compliance. The next day, the Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario held a news conference to call for a public inquiry and discuss issues surrounding scaffolding safety.

Toronto Police and investigators from the Ontario Ministry of Labour are investigating a horrible Christmas Eve accident at a Rexdale apartment complex in which scaffolding collapsed and five workers fell 13 stories to the ground below. Four of the workers died and one survived and was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital with serious head injuries. Another worker on the scaffolding — the job foreman — was able to jump onto the balcony to safety just before the collapse.

The workers had been repairing balconies on the thirteenth floor of the 18-storey high-rise apartments near Kipling Avenue and Steeles Avenue West when the scaffolding snapped in two “for unknown reasons,” although there is speculation that the scaffolding was carrying too much weight, what with six men, tools and the cement they were using to repair the balconies having been loaded onto the platform. Police say all of the men were wearing safety harnesses, but only one was actually attached.

According to witnesses, there were six workers on the scaffolding, with a seventh on the balcony itself. When the scaffolding started to make noise like it was beginning to crack, the foreman jumped onto the balcony to safety, seconds before the scaffolding split in two. The one man who was wearing a safety harness was left dangling in the air after the collapse, but the worker who was on the balcony fell to the ground while trying to pull him up to safety.

It’s been confirmed that at least two of the workers for Metron Construction were hired as contractors, which meant they were responsible for their own insurance and benefits. It is not known if the workers had received adequate training for such work. Criminal charges are also being considered in this case.

Scaffolding work is inherently dangerous. Among the key issues cited by the Ministry of Labour’s Construction Sector Plan for 2008-09, which identifies issues involved in improving health and safety on construction projects, the first item listed was scaffolding. While a single accident that takes so many lives is rare, falls are a leading cause of construction-related accidents, according to the Construction Safety Association of Ontario. In 2008, there were 91 workplace deaths in the construction industry, with 10 dying from falls.