Changes to safety training and work regulations needed, says jury at inquest into worker’s death
Construction workers performing “high-risk” tasks should receive mandatory safety training and refresher courses, says the jury in the inquest into a worker’s death on the Herb Gray Parkway in 2014.
The inquest into Giuseppe (Joe) Serra’s death heard workers got training from their employer, PCR, the subcontractor pouring cement on the parkway, and PIC, the consortium of companies with the contract to build the new highway. But the testimony suggested not all workers received the same training.
Serra, 40, died June 17, 2014, while removing forms for concrete walls in a tunnel near the intersection of Huron Church Road and Todd Lane. A panel estimated to weigh about a tonne toppled onto him, crushing his chest. A pathologist testified Serra’s injuries were not survivable.
The jury that heard the inquest in Windsor last week concluded Serra’s death was an accident. The jury returned six recommendations for the Ministry of Labour’s consideration.
The first was that the ministry consider implementing standards for the number and type of fasteners to be left in forms until they are rigged to a crane or other hoisting device. The ministry should also consider a regulation that says one worker should be tasked with removing fasteners.
Some workers testified that there must have been no fasteners left in the form that fell on Serra, but none of them knew who had removed the last one.
The jury also suggested the ministry consider amending the Occupational Health and Safety Act to require employers to have written procedures on how to erect and dismantle forms.
The inquest heard some employees watched a safety video from the form’s manufacturer, while others had not. Workers testified to learning on the job how to erect and dismantle the forms.
The jury also suggests employers make “reasonable efforts” to provide written safety information to workers in a language they understand.