Ontario contractors look to help “Stop the Drop”
By Adam Freill
Construction Health & SafetyAs more high-rises dot cityscapes, there is heightened need for the construction industry to take action to prevent falling objects.
From left: Dennis Christie, director, health safety and environmental, EllisDon; John Martin, director, health safety and environmental, EllisDon; Steve Chaplin, vice-president, health safety and environmental, EllisDon; Andrew Anderson, senior vice-president, Toronto area manager, EllisDon; Marc Pascoli, senior vice-president and district manager, PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (Toronto); Kevin Wolff, regional HSE manager, Eastern Canada, PCL Constructors Inc.; Anders Wheeler, district HSE manager, PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (Toronto); Syed Reza, HSE manager, PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (Toronto); and Giovanni Cautillo, president, Ontario General Contractors Association. (Photo by Jason Shum Photography)
In advance of Safety Week, which starts on May 1, the Ontario General Contractors Association (OGCA), PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (Toronto) and EllisDon are appealing to the construction industry to help “Stop the Drop.”
According to Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development, as of December 31, 2022, critical injuries caused by falling materials represent 15 per cent of all injuries on construction sites.
“The coming together of industry leaders such as PCL and EllisDon to focus on jobsite safety is great to see; safety is everyone’s business,” said OGCA president Giovanni Cautillo. “Joining forces to share best practices and work collectively to improve safety awareness on jobsites is key to this year’s Safety Week theme: ‘Strong voices, safe choices.’ We look forward to this ongoing collaboration that ensures everyone goes home safely to their families at the end of each day.”
As part of its commitment to supporting member companies build a better Ontario, the OGCA is collaborating with PCL and EllisDon in taking a proactive stance to guide change and champion the broader construction industry to improve safety culture.
“By collaborating with the OGCA, EllisDon and other partners, we are taking a stance to demonstrate to industry that we all have a critical role to play in improving safety on our jobsites, said Marc Pascoli, senior vice-president and district manager with PCL Toronto. “Safety is at the heart of everything we do, and we must all hold ourselves and each other accountable to higher standards. Only together can we proactively prevent falling objects in order to protect our community, both on the jobsite and within the cities we build.”
“EllisDon’s strategic business approach may vary relative to our colleagues in the industry, but I can say confidently we all share safety as a top priority as it is fundamentally at the core of everything we do,” said Andrew Anderson, senior vice-president and Toronto area manager with EllisDon. “We need to come together as an industry and take additional steps towards preventing items falling from heights – an occurrence happening all too often and entirely preventable if we work together collaboratively to develop best practices and share knowledge on safety measures that will keep our workers and the public at-large protected.”
Central to this collaboration is a shared Toolbox Safety Talk that both PCL Toronto and EllisDon will be distributing to their workforce during Safety Week to provide prevention methods to avoid these types of incidents. These tips include guidance on how to properly secure all tools and equipment, establish a controlled access zone, and inspect and maintain equipment.
