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Convicted: Homestead Land Holdings Limited, 80 Johnson Street, Kingston; Reimar Construction Corporation, 328 Trinity Church Road, Hannon; Jose Martinho, Supervisor, Reimar Construction Corporation; Miguel Martins, Director, Reimar Construction Corporation

Location of Workplace: Highrise residential construction site at 40 Towering Heights Boulevard, St. Catharines

Description of Offence: Two workers were critically injured from a fall, caused by an elevator shaft platform collapse. The convicted parties failed to ensure that the measures and procedures required by Section 89(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 were carried out.

Date of Offence: April 16, 2021

Date of Conviction: December 6, 2022

Penalty Imposed:

• Homestead Land Holdings Limited was fined $150,000
• Reimar Construction Corporation was fined $200,000
• Jose Martinho was fined $15,000
• Miguel Martins was fined $15,000
• The fines were imposed by Justice of the Peace Bruce Phillips following guilty pleas at the Provincial Offences Court in Welland; Crown counsel Daniel Kleiman.
• The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge on each fine as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Background:

• On April 16, 2021, Homestead Land Holdings Limited was the constructor of a high-rise residential tower on Towering Heights Boulevard in St. Catharines. The company had contracted Reimar Construction Corporation to perform concrete formwork.
• Jose Martinho, a supervisor, had assigned two workers to move and install formwork for the inner walls of the building’s elevator shaft from the eighth to the ninth storey.
• The workers, the supervisor and a crane operator began to install and level an elevator shaft platform for the inner wall elevator formwork and for the workers to stand on while installing the formwork. The platform was supported by beams that rested in pockets formed into the concrete elevator walls. The workers had trouble aligning all the beams into their respective pockets.
• The supervisor installed an additional bracket under one end of one of the support beams since the workers were having trouble with the adjusting screw and there was concern over the amount of bearing in that pocket.
• No engineering approval was obtained for the installation of the bracket, and the heads of the anchors that attached the bracket to the concrete, which did not fail, were too small for the opening in the bracket.
• Once the platform was installed and levelled, an approximately 5,430 kg section of formwork was placed on it and the two workers entered onto the platform.
• As the workers were working, the platform collapsed at one end, causing the workers to fall and become critically injured.
• Section 89(2) of the Construction Regulation requires that the formwork and falsework used in this incident, including the elevator shaft platform, be designed by an engineer in accordance with good engineering practice and be installed or erected in accordance with the design drawings.
• Reimar was responsible for and did not obtain and provide site-specific drawings prepared by a professional engineer for the elevator shaft platform for the tower.
• Homestead Land Holdings Limited contravened Section 23(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing, as a constructor, to ensure that the measures and procedures required by Section 89(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 were carried out.
• Reimar Construction Corporation contravened Section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing, as an employer, to ensure that the measures and procedures required by Section 89(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 were carried out.
• Jose Martinho contravened Section 27(2)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing, as a supervisor, to take the reasonable precaution of ensuring that modifications were not made to the support system for the elevator shaft platform without the approval of a professional engineer.
• Miguel Martins contravened Section 32 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing, as a director, to ensure that Reimar Construction Corporation complied with the requirements of Section 89(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91.

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