TORONTO — Aecon Utilities Inc. has been fined $175,000 in relation to a July 2024 trench incident that occurred in King City, Ont.
An Ontario government court bulletin states the company was installing a new underground utility service at a residential property in King City on July 30, 2024. Excavation work was conducted to expose an existing pipeline and a trench shoring box system had been installed to support the walls of the excavation.
While the worker was inside the trench connecting the new utility service to the pipeline, heavy rainfall began. Rainwater mixed with silt and soil entered the trench, forming a slurry that accumulated rapidly, the bulletin describes.
The worker became trapped in the slurry and was fatally injured by the rapidly rising water.
The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development investigated the incident, including the engineering aspects of the trench, pumping capacity and site conditions.
It was determined the amount of rainfall and sediment entering the excavation made it impossible to safely dewater the trench. Continuing to use equipment in those conditions endangered the worker.
As a result, Aecon Utilities Inc. failed to ensure equipment was not used when weather conditions made its use likely to endanger a worker, contrary to the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Following a guilty plea in the Ontario Court of Justice in Newmarket on March 26, 2026, Aecon Utilities Inc. was fined by Justice Prutschi.
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