TORONTO — D & A Road Services Inc. has been fined $125,000 after a pedestrian was fatally struck by a dump truck in a work zone near a TTC bus stop.
The Concord, Ont.-based company is an asphalt and concrete grinding and milling contractor.
The incident occurred on April 15, 2021 on the Finch West Light Rail Transit project on Finch Avenue between Jane and Keele streets.
On the day of the incident, D & A was removing asphalt from the roadway on Finch Avenue and loading it into dump trucks operated by separate contractors.
There was a pedestrian crossing within the work zone and work operations would stop periodically to allow pedestrians to travel along the crossing, within the orange barriers, to and from a temporary bus stop, indicates a court bulletin.
Milling operations stopped when a dump truck reached capacity, requiring it to exit the work area and unload offsite. Before exiting, the dump truck operator stopped to complete administrative paperwork, stationing the loaded dump truck on or near a pedestrian crossing, where the orange barriers had been temporarily moved to restrict pedestrian access to the work zone.
During that time, a member of the public was observed entering the work zone through the orange barriers that were left slightly ajar, to retrieve a plastic bag. At the same time, the truck operator finished the paperwork and resumed operating the dump truck, striking the pedestrian who suffered fatal injuries.
According to the bulletin, D & A Road Services Inc. failed, as an employer, to ensure a sturdy fence at least 1.8 metres in height was constructed between the public way and the project, as prescribed under section 65 of Ontario regulation 213/91, contrary to section 25(1)(c) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The company was convicted following a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice in Toronto. D & A Road Services Inc. was fined by Justice Leslie Chapin.
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