NEWMARKET, ONT. — An employee of Aecon Construction and Materials has been convicted and fined for his role in a 2019 construction workplace incident in Richmond Hill, Ont. in which a pedestrian was struck and killed by a pickup truck.
Peter Bransfield of Barry’s Bay, Ont. was convicted following pleading guilty in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket on Dec. 2 for health and safety violations under the Ontario Construction Regulation and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The incident occurred at a construction project on Yonge Street between Highway 7 and Major Mackenzie Drive in Richmond Hill. The pedestrian was struck by a truck operating in reverse.
A Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development report indicated that on July 11, 2019, the defendant was assigned to supply and transport equipment and materials on the construction project. He had been employed by Aecon for about one year as a labourer.
The construction project consisted of widening a section of Yonge Street. Three of the four southbound lanes were closed to traffic, with only the easternmost or centre lane remaining open to southbound traffic.
The Yonge Street sidewalk to the west was also closed to pedestrians. A temporary north/south sidewalk for pedestrians was designated at a location within the closed lanes and construction project with large cones or pylons spaced about eight to 12 feet apart.
After work on the project had finished for the day, Aecon workers were removing the easternmost lane closure to reopen it to southbound rush-hour traffic. They were at the intersection of Garden Avenue and Yonge Street and were removing various signs, barricades and equipment.
At one point Bransfield drove the one-ton truck to the intersection to see if they required any help. The truck was equipped with a dump box on the back that largely obstructed the driver’s view within the rear-view mirror.
Bransfield parked in the closed lane facing south on Yonge Street, just to the west of the temporary sidewalk. He spoke to the other workers who told him they had removed all of the signs and equipment and were finished work and ready to leave. There was one sign north of the intersection on Yonge Street and Bransfield offered to remove it.
Bransfield did a circle check around the truck, looked northward and did not see anyone walking on or near the road. There was space to drive the truck forward to turn around; instead, Bransfield reversed the truck in a northbound direction on Yonge Street at about 15 kilometres per hour in the closed lane.
The truck is equipped with an audible back-up alarm and flashing lights on top and it was backed up approximately 100 metres. The evidence does not indicate where the pedestrian entered the construction zone.
For reasons unknown, the warning signals on the truck did not sufficiently alert the pedestrian to the approaching truck in the closed construction project. Bransfield used the side-view mirrors of the truck to determine if anyone was behind him, but did not see the pedestrian, and did not believe any pedestrian would be in the closed construction zone while reversing the truck. The truck struck the pedestrian.
Emergency services were called and attended but the pedestrian was pronounced deceased on the scene.
The court determined that defendant failed as a worker to work in compliance with section 104(2) of the Construction Regulation, which states that “vehicles, machines and equipment at a project shall not be operated in reverse unless there is no practical alternative to doing so.” Section 28(1)(a) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act also applies, which states, “A worker shall work in compliance with the provisions of this act and [its] regulations.”
Bransfield was fined $8,000 and given one year’s probation.
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