Ontario Construction News staff writer
A construction company has been fined $250,000 following a tragic tunnel collapse in Ajax that claimed the lives of two workers in 2022.
Direct Underground Inc. pleaded guilty in Provincial Offenses Court in Oshawa, where Justice Lara Crawford imposed the fine.
The company had been contracted to install a storm sewer for the project. Six of the company’s workers were installing a new catch basin system.
A Ministry of Labour investigation revealed that an improper “engineering opinion” was used to assess the excavation’s stability, and no support system was installed for a weaker soil layer present at the site. Without proper reinforcement, the unstable conditions led to the deadly collapse.
The incident occurred on August 8, 2022, at a road widening project on Rossland Road between Church Street and Westney Road. Workers were installing a new underground sewer system when the trench caved in, trapping four individuals inside.
Two of the workers managed to survive—one suffering a broken ankle and another airlifted to a Toronto trauma center with serious injuries. The bodies of the two deceased workers were recovered by rescue crews about 14 hours later.
According to the investigation, Direct Underground 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.
In addition to the fine, Crawford imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, which will be used to support victims of crime.
