Topic
Health & Safety
Ontario gives workers extra year to renew working-at-heights training due to COVID-19 closures
March 31, 2020 On-Site StaffMore than 100,000 Ontario workers whose working-at-heights training would have expired in 2020 have been given another year to renew their certification. The Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development said March 30 the mandatory retraining can be put off…
Coronavirus crisis brings construction industry’s long-standing issues with job site sanitation to forefront
March 30, 2020 David KennedyHygiene and social distancing rocket to top of priority lists as job sites adjust to coronavirus protocols
CCA lays out standardized set of health and safety protocols to help job sites contend with coronavirus
March 27, 2020 On-Site StaffSafety-compliant jobs sites should remain open, but violators shut down, the industry group says
Construction industry answers call from hospitals to donate in-demand protective gear
March 25, 2020 On-Site Staff, with files from The Canadian PressThe construction industry is stepping up to donate much-needed protective gear to hospitals as frontline health care staff coast to coast work to detect and treat thousands of cases of COVID-19. Though hospitals and health departments have generally downplayed concerns…
Construction labour groups raise concerns over job site safety amid outbreak
March 24, 2020 Ian Bickis, The Canadian PressTORONTO—Construction labour groups are raising concerns about working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic as companies and governments respond with a range of strategies. The Ontario Construction Consortium, a group that advocates for construction workers, called on the Ontario government March…
Job sites stay open across country, though pair of Quebec unions call for halt to construction
March 20, 2020 by David KennedyA flood of ordinary workers and industry groups have committed to carrying on, others have broken ranks and called for construction to stop
No precedents put construction in ‘uncharted waters’ on force majeure clauses, coronavirus
March 19, 2020 by David KennedyThe Canadian construction industry is entering “uncharted waters” as provincial governments declare states of emergency and Ottawa closes the country’s borders to all but vital supplies to limit the spread of COVID-19, or coronavirus. Currently, job sites remain active, but…
Kitchener, Ont.-based contractor fined for pair of fall-related injuries on industrial job site
March 17, 2020 On-Site StaffAn Ontario contractor taking on a renovation project at an industrial plant in Kitchener, Ont. has been fined $55,000 for an incident that left two workers with fall-related injures in July 2018. Ball Construction Inc. pleaded guilty to falling short…
New initiative equips women in construction with properly fitting safety harnesses
March 17, 2020 On-Site StaffMore than 300 women at nearly two dozen construction companies across the U.S. will be working at heights more safely thanks to a new initiative led by tech firm Autodesk Inc. and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Officially…
Making use of technology for safer job sites
February 20, 2020 Jacob StollerHigh tech safety devices and software can’t eliminate construction risks, but they can make them more visible
Ontario construction firm fined for fatal fall during project at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport
February 13, 2020 On-Site StaffA siding contractor based in Rockwood, Ont. has been fined $125,000 and faces 18 months probation after a worker suffered a fatal fall on a project at Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport in early 2018. Vixman Construction Ltd. was sentenced last…
Minnesota regulators give key approvals for Line 3 pipeline
February 5, 2020 The Associated PressMinnesota utility regulators approved a court-ordered revised environmental review for Enbridge Energy’s plan to replace its aging Line 3 crude oil pipeline across the state. On Feb. 3, Minnesota’s Public Utilities Commission voted 3-1 to approve the environmental impact statement…
Ontario begins safety blitz inspections, focusing on construction sites
February 5, 2020 by Megan HoeglerOntario workplace inspectors are launching a safety blitz focusing on construction sites. The ‘blitz’ was announced by Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development for the province, on Feb. 3. “We’re doing this to save lives,” McNaughton said…
OPG to explore alternatives following no vote on nuclear waste disposal site
February 5, 2020 by Megan HoeglerOntario Power Generation (OPG) will need to find somewhere else to dispose of nuclear waste. On Jan. 31, members of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation (SON) First Nations voted against a Deep Geologic Repository (DGR) site for low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste…
Investigators lay safety violation charges in falling death at Halifax job site
January 14, 2020 The Canadian PressHALIFAX—A foreman and construction company are facing charges under Nova Scotia’s Occupational Health and Safety laws related to the falling death of a young labourer at a Halifax work site. Halifax police had earlier charged supervisor Jeff Scott Gooch with…
Concrete structure collapsing onto excavator, trapping worker leads to fine for Ontario company
December 6, 2019 On-Site StaffA workplace incident that left an excavator operator buried in rubble for several hours has led to a $65,000 fine for an Ontario company. 1481410 Ontario Ltd., which was doing business as SL Marketing, was carrying out demolition project at…
Complex project to remove crane toppled in Halifax during Dorian cost $2M, minister says
November 29, 2019 The Canadian PressHALIFAX—Nova Scotia’s transportation minister says the cost of removing a construction crane that toppled in downtown Halifax during post-tropical storm Dorian is at least $2 million. Lloyd Hines says the province is examining invoices from an engineering firm and the…
Major fine for Ontario contractor after worker killed in incident involving improper rigging
November 28, 2019 On-Site StaffA worker death on a construction site in Listowel, Ont. has resulted in a fine of $150,000 for Kurtis Smith Excavating Inc. after a guilty plea in court Nov. 26. The incident took place in May 2018 when three workers,…
Contractor fined $125K for worker killed in truck rollover near Sudbury, Ont.
November 21, 2019 On-Site StaffThe province has fined Teranorth Construction & Engineering Ltd. $125,000 for an unusual incident involving a malfunctioning braking system that left one worker dead. The Sudbury-based contractor had completed a culvert and bridge rehabilitation project near Elliot Lake on Highway…
43-year-old worker killed by falling material on Welland, Ont. construction site
November 13, 2019 On-Site StaffAn investigation is underway after a worker on a Welland, Ont. construction site was killed by falling material Nov. 12. Police, as well as Welland Fire and emergency medical services teams, responded to an “industrial accident” Tuesday afternoon at a…