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You are here: Home / Employee Relations / Swing N Scaff Inc. and company director fined a total of $400,000 in deaths of four workers

By Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD | < 1 Minute Read December 19, 2014

Swing N Scaff Inc. and company director fined a total of $400,000 in deaths of four workers

Last January, I wrote about fatalities at work, and in particular, the Metron Construction and Swartz decisions. Since then, there has been some developments.

On December 4, 2014, the Ontario Ministry of Labour announcedthat Swing N Scaff Inc., the Ottawa-based company that supplied the swing stage platform that collapsed on December 24, 2009, resulting in the deaths of four workers and significant injuries to another, has been fined $350,000. Moreover, Swing N Scaff Inc. pleaded guilty for failing to ensure that a suspended platform and/or a component supplied to Metron Construction Corporation was in good condition.

One of its directors, Patrick Deschamps, pleaded guilty to failing to take all reasonable care to ensure the platform was in good condition and that it was designed by a professional engineer and was fined $50,000. Moreover, that the platform weighing more than 525 kilograms was designed by a professional engineer in accordance with good engineering practice.

In 2009, the workers were employed by Metron Construction Corporation of Toronto and were conducting balcony restoration on an apartment building in Toronto just prior to the accident.

In addition to the fine, the court imposed a 25 percent 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.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Labour says criminal and occupational health and safety charges against a Metron supervisor are still outstanding.

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Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD
Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, is a member of the Law Society of Ontario. Christina worked as an editor with First Reference between 2005 and 2015 working on publications including The Human Resources Advisor (Ontario, Western and Atlantic editions), HRinfodesk, and First Reference Talks blog discussing topics in Canadian Labour and Employment Law. She continues to contribute to First Reference Talks as a regular guest blogger, where she writes on surveillance technologies and privacy/AI. Christina has also appeared in the Montreal AI Ethics Institute's AI Brief, International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Privacy Advisor, Tech Policy Press, and Slaw - Canada's online legal magazine.

Additionally, find Christina at https://www.christinacatenacci.com/
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Article by Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD / Employee Relations, Employment Standards, Health and Safety, Union Relations / Bill C-45, company director fined, criminal and occupational health and safety charges, Due diligence, employment law, failing to take all reasonable, good engineering practice, Metron Construction, Ministry of Labour, platform, Provincial Offences Act, supervisor, Swing N Scaff Inc., Victim Fine Surcharge, Workplace accident, workplace fatalities

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About Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD

Christina Catenacci, BA, LLB, LLM, PhD, is a member of the Law Society of Ontario. Christina worked as an editor with First Reference between 2005 and 2015 working on publications including The Human Resources Advisor (Ontario, Western and Atlantic editions), HRinfodesk, and First Reference Talks blog discussing topics in Canadian Labour and Employment Law. She continues to contribute to First Reference Talks as a regular guest blogger, where she writes on surveillance technologies and privacy/AI. Christina has also appeared in the Montreal AI Ethics Institute's AI Brief, International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Privacy Advisor, Tech Policy Press, and Slaw - Canada's online legal magazine.

Additionally, find Christina at https://www.christinacatenacci.com/

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