Robert Koci
North Toronto renovation goes tragically wrong, killing 19-year-old worker in "pancake collapse"
Canadian Contractor DisasterThe media have reported that there were three permits for the renovation, which included underpinning as well as a two-storey addition to the rear of the property.
A 19-year-old man, yet to be named, was killed Sept. 9 during the “pancake collapse” of a North Toronto house undergoing renovations. He had apparently been digging in the basement, where underpinning work was contracted to be done by the general contractor, identified by the Ministry of Labour as Euro Group Ltd., Oakville, Ontario. Two other men were injured, one seriously, but both survived the collapse. A fourth man was on site, and possibly a fifth.
The 2-storey red brick house at Brookdale Avenue and Greer Road imploded almost entirely into its basement, as shown in this Canadian Contractor photo taken the day after the disaster. Here, the wreckage is being taken apart and a Ministry of Labour investigation is just underway.
Three permits had been issued by the City of Toronto for the work. One permit was for general interior construction, one for adding at 2-storey addition to the rear of the house, and one for the underpinning. The Toronto Star reports that the men on site at the time were all employees of Euro Group. Canadian Contractor has not confirmed that.
Read Alec Caldwell’s (CARAHS) column about this tragedy.
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The day we speak up about these safety issues, is the day we change the culture of silence.
If you fail to speak out about bad safety practices you see on work sites, you are guilty by your silence.
It only takes one person to speak up to save a life. Could someone have spoken up and saved this your man’s life? We will never know.