Jonny Chard | Contributor
Featured image: The subway extension is expected to open at the end of 2017. | Amir Yazdanparast
A subcontractor on the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension construction project has been fined $50,000 for the 2011 death of a worker and serious injury to another.
Judge Brent Knazan sentenced Advanced Construction Techniques Ltd., or ACT, at Old City Hall Court in Toronto on September 26, following a guilty verdict earlier in August.
The case follows events on the afternoon of October 11, 2011, where a drill rig toppled over with the mast and casing, crushing a backhoe and excavator below it. The backhoe operator was killed and the excavator operator was seriously injured, along with two other workers.
Knazan found that ACT had failed to adequately design a work platform for the drill rig by recognizing the soil-bearing capacity as required by the manufacturer’s specification for stability.
The Crown initially brought four charges against ACT. One charge was withdrawn by the Crown when the prime contractor and constructor on the project, Obrascon Huarte Lain and FCC Construction pled guilty and was subsequently fined $400,000. The judge found ACT not guilty of two of the remaining charges, guilty of one and fined ACT $50,000 accordingly.
When contacted for comment, ACT. stated: “In light of other ongoing proceedings at this time, no further comment or information may be provided.”
The TTC and its subcontractors have been under fire for the number of incidents and delays that have occurred on the 8.6 kilometre extension of the Yonge-University-Spadina subway from Downsview Station into the city of Vaughan, which has been delayed multiple times.
TTC Executive Director, Corporate Communications Brad Ross stresses: “This was a tragic loss of life. The TTC puts safety above all else and will continue to hold its contractors and their sub-contractors to account for the safety of their workers and the public, no matter the project.”
Fourth-year graphic design student Lindsay Keenan has found it hugely frustrating having to put up with the construction delays and not being able to reap any benefits while attending the university.
“Hopefully, now that the court case has been put to rest, the construction company have accepted their share of blame for the incident and have implemented safety measures to ensure no further incidents, the subway construction should meet the promised deadlines,” she says.
The opening of the subway extension is anticipated for the end of 2017.
