The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was fined CAD165,000 by the Ontario Court of Justice on 10th December for failing to protect the health and safety of workers who were overcome by carbon monoxide gas in a subway tunnel in February 2006. Seven workers and their foreman comprised a man-made mineral fibre (MMF) crew from the Track and Structure Department working in the northbound tunnel between Eglinton and Lawrence stations on the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line. Their work was part of a CAD15.7 million construction project to repair the concrete liner of the tunnels on the line. This crew was removing MMF material to permit access to the concrete for repair. An asbestos removal crew was working nearby, so the ventilation system was shut off.
At about 3 a.m., the crew established a work area 457 metres north of the Eglinton station. Part of their equipment on a flatbed subway car included a gasoline-powered generator and two gasoline-powered power washers. At about 4:13 a.m., TTC received a call from the foreman that crew members were overcome by fumes. Toronto Fire Services were notified at 4:20 a.m. and responded along with emergency medical services. Eighty-four minutes after the foreman's call, the workers were rescued when their work car arrived at the Eglinton station platform at 5:37 a.m.
Toronto Fire Service reported carbon monoxide readings of over 1,000 parts per million (ppm) when they first arrived at the incident location. By 5:30 a.m., levels were in the 550-580 ppm range. The readings indicated that the workers had been exposed to carbon monoxide concentrations at least 40
times the current eight-hour average occupational exposure limit of 25 ppm and 10 times the short term exposure limit of 100 ppm.
A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the TTC failed to ensure that no internal combustion
engine was to be operated in a building or other enclosed structure unless the exhaust gases and fumes from the engine were discharged directly outside to a point sufficiently remote to prevent the return of the gases or fumes; or unless there were an adequate supply of air for combustion and adequate natural or mechanical ventilation to ensure exhaust gases and fumes would not accumulate.
Charges against a general superintendent are to be heard in court in February and March, 2008.
In April this year, a member of an asbestos removal crew died and two other workers were injured in the southbound subway tunnel, south of Lawrence station, when a piece of equipment on the work car wasn't secured. The accident closed the system's busiest line between Eglinton and York Mills through both rush hours, delaying thousands of subway riders.
To help reduce a high employee injury rate, the TTC has hired Behavioral Science Technology of the US. The firm will be paid between CAD7.3 million and CAD8.9 million with a goal to reduce injuries by 40 to 60% over the next three years. Visit www.bstsolutions.com 52/07-01/08.
