Labor leaders rip fines levied over workers’ deaths: ‘Minimal’

Worker advocates are slamming the “minimal” penalties levied against two companies fined $400,000 for their role in a partial building collapse that killed two workers and injured several others in London.

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East Elgin Concrete Forming, the Tillsonburg concrete contractor that employed the two workers killed in the December 2020 collapse at 555 Teeple Terrace, and iSpan Systems LP, a Woodstock-area steel joist manufacturer, were convicted of Ontario Health and Safety Act charges linked to the deadly workplace incident.

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Following guilty pleas, iSpan Systems was fined $260,000 and East Elgin Concrete Forming was fined $140,000.

“When we see fines like this being lifted, they fall completely short. Let’s be clear, it’s just a fine. It really shows, quite frankly, that the current system is not working for workers,” said Laura Walton, president of the Ontario Federation of Labor.

“My thoughts go out to the families of those workers. This minimal fine is not going to bring any peace for them.”

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Both companies are also required to pay a 25 per cent victim surcharge, a sum that funds a provincial government program to assist victims of crime.

East Elgin Concrete Forming failed to provide adequate instruction and supervision to workers on proper concrete measuring techniques, officials with the Ministry of Labor, Immigration, Training and Skills Development said, and iSpan Systems failed to ensure the building was able to support loads that were applied roof.

East Elgin Concrete Forming was not available for comment Sunday.

In a statement Sunday, iSpan apologized and expressed condolences for the six families affected by the Teeple Terrace incident.

“This tragedy impacted six families and changed their lives forever,” iSpan director of operations Douglas Fox said in an email. “This tragedy shook us to our core and changed the lives of everyone at iSpan. We think about the victims all the time and have done everything we can to ensure that this never happens again.”

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The Ontario Health and Safety Act sets out maximum fines for individuals, corporations and directors that violate the law and sets a maximum jail sentence of no more than 12 months for offenses.

Companies can also attract liability under Canada’s Criminal Code for actions that kill or injure workers, but those provisions are used “very sparingly” and there is limited transparency and accountability about why criminal charges are not pursued, Walton said.

“It should be ‘Kill a worker, go to jail.’ It’s that simple,” she said. “Until employers that are negligent are charged and facing jail time, they’re not going to recognize their responsibility.”

The London and District Labor Council said the province must do more to ensure that companies that violate workplace safety laws get more than just a slap on the wrist.

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“One worker’s death is one too many. We have repeatedly seen that fines and financial penalties are not enough,” president Patti Dalton said in an email.

The Ontario Health and Safety Act charges against the two companies were announced days before the first anniversary of the fatal collapse in December 2021. Convictions were entered Dec. 15, 2023, a little more than three years after the fatal workplace incident.

The lengthy timeline from the offense to the laying of charges and their resolution in court also sends the wrong signal to companies, Walton said.

“The closure falls short of what is actually needed,” she said.

John Martens, 21, of Langton and Henry Harder, 26, of Tillsonburg – both East Elgin Concrete Forming employees – were killed when part of the Nest on Wonderland, a low-rise apartment building, collapsed while under construction on Dec. 11, 2020. Four other workers were critically injured, the ministry said.

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A section of freshly poured concrete gave way, crashing down onto each floor below and taking part of the building’s exterior wall with it.

An investigation by the ministry found East Elgin was using a laser measure to set the fill line for the steel frames, a method that allowed for concrete to be over-poured. The overage exceeded the design parameters and contributed to the collapse, the ministry said.

Ministry engineers also found iSpan, in manufacturing the form, didn’t follow engineering drawings in the way studs were set on the support. The misstep, which was not caught by the company’s quality control process, may have reduced the capacity of the form and prevented it from withstanding an overpour, the ministry said.

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ISpan Systems LP is in the midst of insolvency proceedings, court records show. An Oct. 26 decision from the Superior Court of Justice said the company ran into financial troubles during the pandemic, a situation made worse by swings in the price of steel.

The October decision noted iSpan was also facing prosecution by the Ministry of Labor on the Teeple Terrace collapse, with a maximum potential penalty “in excess of $11 million.”

The corporation initially faced six Ontario Health and Safety Act charges in connection to the partial collapse. The maximum fine for a corporation under the act is $2-million per offense.

ISpan has approximately $20.5-million in total debts, the Superior Court decision on the insolvency proceeding said.

The apartment building on Teeple Terrace has since been completed and is now filled with tenants.

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