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Convicted: Direct Underground Inc., 11244 Keele Street, Unit 4, Maple, Ontario, a sewer and watermain construction company

Location of Workplace: A road widening project on Rossland Road, between Church Street and Westney Road, in the Town of Ajax, Ontario

Description of Offence: Four workers were injured, two of them fatally, during the installation of a new underground sewer system. Direct Underground Inc. failed, as an employer, to ensure that the walls of the excavation were supported by a shoring system or appropriately sloped, as required by section 234(1) of Ontario Regulation 213/91, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Date of Offence: August 8, 2022

Date of Conviction: November 29, 2024

Penalty Imposed:

• Following a guilty plea in the Provincial Offences Court in Oshawa, Direct Underground Inc. was fined $250,000 by Justice Lara A. Crawford; Crown Counsel was David McCaskill.
• The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge as required by the Provincial Offences Act. The surcharge is credited to a special provincial government fund to assist victims of crime.

Background:

• On August 8, 2024, Direct Underground had been contracted to install a storm sewer for the road widening project. Six workers employed by the company were installing a new catch basin system.
• While four workers were in the excavation to install the system, the north wall of the excavation collapsed, resulting in fatal injuries to two of the workers and non-fatal injuries to the other two workers.
• A Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigation found that the excavation wall had a weaker layer of soil present, which was classified as Type 3 per Ontario Regulation 213/91. This required shoring or appropriate sloping of the walls to prevent unstable conditions leading to collapse.
• The investigation also found that there was no engineering opinion on the stability of the excavation wall, and no support system installed for the weaker layer of soil.
• Direct Underground Inc. failed to ensure that the walls of the excavation were supported by a shoring system or appropriate sloping of the walls that complied with sections 235, 236, 237, 238, 239 and 241 of Ontario Regulation 213/91, as required by section 234(1) of the regulation, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

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