Investigation could take up to a year
Melissa Sundardas
Staff Writer
After a drilling rig collapse killed one and injured five construction workers at the TTC’s construction site on Keele campus, all parties involved are co-operating with subsequent investigations.
TTC spokesperson Brad Ross says the Ontario Ministry of Labour is currently investigating the October 11 incident, and construction on the Toronto-York Spadina Subway Extension (TYSSE) project site is on hold until the investigation has concluded.
Labour ministry spokesperson Matt Blajer says the ministry is not sure how long the investigation will take and they have up to a year to investigate.
“It depends what we find, how complex the investigation becomes. We can’t really predict how long the investigation will take,” he says. “Our whole purpose of our investigation is one, to find out what happened; two, to make sure that the law was followed; and three, to see what needs to be done to prevent other such incidents.”
Blajer says if the ministry sees that any laws were broken, charges may be laid. However, he emphasized that no legal action will be taken until all procedures are complete and reviewed with a Crown attorney.
According to police on-scene the day of the accident, a rig—a large
machine used for excavation work being done at the construction site—toppled over onto two other large machines, a backhoe and a front-end loader, around 2:30 p.m. at James Gillies Street and York Boulevard near the Schulich Building. EMS was called approximately 10 minutes after the incident was reported.
The deceased was later identified as Kyle Knox, a 24-year-old construction worker at the site. He was crushed to death when the drilling rig toppled onto his loader, but his body was only removed from the rubble early Wednesday. Knox’s funeral was held October 17, according to Blajer.
“I wasn’t [at the scene] but I believe that they basically took one look at him and knew he was dead,” says Peter Macintyre, Toronto EMS spokesperson. “Quite frankly I don’t think they could really get to him, but the initial assessment was that he was deceased,”
Macintyre says another male construction worker who was also trapped was transported to Sunnybrook Medical Centre’s trauma centre with severe leg injuries. Fire services helped free him by bringing in another crane from a construction company that lifted the piece off of him.
Four others who suffered “relatively minor injuries” were also taken to the hospital for treatment.
Ross says although this is a TTC project, the work was contracted out and that the contractor is fully responsible for the construction site and its safety, including providing a safety plan, hiring sub contractors, and making sure that they follow all Ontario’s labour laws.
Two Spanish contracting companies—Obrascón Huarte Lain and FCC Construcción—that were hired for the York site had subcontracted work to Kettleby, Ontario company Advanced Construction Techniques (ACT) Ltd., which operated the rig.
“This particular contractor OHL-FCC has been contracted to do the 407 station, as well as to do some tunneling in the North end of the project and the excavation work that was underway at York University for the York University station,” says Ross.
He also expresses his condolences to Knox’s family.
“We offer the deepest condolences to the victim’s family and hope for a speedy and full recovery for anyone who was injured and involved in this. It’s a very tragic incident and we’re as anxious as everybody else to get to the bottom of it,” he says.
In an emailed statement to Excalibur, Douglas Heenan, vice-president of ACT said, “On behalf of Advanced Construction Techniques, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the friends and families of all of the people involved in Tuesday’s incident, in particular to the friends and family of the worker who lost his life.”
In addition to currently working with investigators on-site, Heenan says ACT will work with authorities and regulators on their investigation and conduct their own additional investigation into the tragic event.
In a press release regarding the incident October 12, York administration expressed condolences for the family of the of the worker who died, best wishes for those injured, and information about counselling for students and staff affected by the accident.
Wallace Pidgeon of York media says the university has no involvement in this incident.
“This is not in any way, shape,
or form, a York University construction site,” he says. “The land that it’s taken place on is the responsibility of the TYSSE folks.”
In the meantime, Pidgeon says, the university is working to minimize class disruption for students and faculty.
“A tragic accident has taken place and our condolences go out to the family,” he says. “York is working with everybody to make sure that the disruptions to students and students’ lives are as minimal as possible, and that classes are continuing and students can continue on with their education.”
