Nearly one year after a partial building collapse that killed two construction workers in west London, eight workplace safety charges have been laid.
The Ontario Ministry of Labour has filed the charges under the province’s Occupational Health and Safety Act against two companies and an unnamed person in relation to the incident at 555 Teeple Terrace.
A portion of the four-storey apartment building, which was under construction, collapsed on December 11, 2020. John Martens, 21, and Henry Harder, 26, were killed when a section of the fourth floor caved in around noon that day, crashing through the lower levels of the structure and taking out the exterior wall. Five other people were also hurt, including four who had to be hospitalized.
East Elgin Concrete Forming Ltd. in Tillsonburg is charged with one count of failing to provide information, instruction, and supervision to a worker to protect the health and safety of a worker.
ISpan Systems LP in Princeton is charged with six offences including failing to ensure that a building, structure or any part thereof, or any other part of a workplace, whether temporary or permanent, is capable of supporting any loads that may be applied to it in accordance with good engineering practice.
A person, who has not been publicly identified, is charged with one count of providing advice negligently or incompetently that endangered a worker.
Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said the ministry worked “tirelessly to determine the cause of this tragedy” in a statement issued after the charges were laid.
“Any company in Ontario that thinks worker safety is just the cost of doing business should think twice because they will quickly feel the full force of the law,” said McNaughton. “We owe it to the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims to ensure something like this never happens again.”
A first court appearance in relation to the charges is scheduled for January 11.
Read original story from London Ontario – BlackburnNews.com