All coroner's jury recommendations in 2014 trench collapse rejected by Ontario Labour Ministry

Ontario's Ministry of Labour has rejected all 10 recommendations a coroner's jury has made in an inquest into the death of a construction worker in a trench collapse eight years ago.

The ministry, which is not required to accept recommendations from a coroner's jury, says all the concerns raised in the inquest have already been addressed. But some critics say the province's move is "criminal" and shows it's unprepared to provide more training and resources to prevent similar workplace accidents. 

"It's criminal that the ministry does not heed these recommendations," said Patty Coates, the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL), in a statement to CBC Toronto.

In July of 2014, Michael Picanco, 35, died when a trench collapsed at a construction site in Toronto. Due to the instability of the soil, it was impossible to rescue him until the morning after, according to the coroner's report. An autopsy showed Picanco suffocated due to the pressure on his chest from the collapsed soil.

The ministry's rejection of the recommendations comes after two workers died last August in a trench collapse in Ajax, Ont. The three-day inquest into Picanco's death began on Oct. 25. 

The jury's recommendations include:

"What we're seeing now is long, drawn-out coroner's inquests that dredge everything up for the families, and then the Ministry of Labour simply says 'no' to every recommendation that could save another worker's life," Coates said.

The Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), which contains regulations that govern excavations, requires either a slope or a trench box to prevent collapses. 

"In Picanco's case, there was neither," Coates said.

The company was fined $75,000 for violating the OHSA. The jury recommended that the ministry implement a "progressive disciplinary response" when companies have multiple non-compliance orders.

Eric Tucker, a labour law expert and professor emeritus at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School, said there must be an adequate system for targeting employers based on their history of compliance with safety regulations.

"Without the senior leadership of the Ministry of Labour not just guiding but requiring inspectors to take these factors into account and to escalate enforcement activities for repeat offenders, it tends not to happen," Tucker said.

"[When] employers violate a law, they're detected, they're told, 'We're ordering you to stop violating the law,' they stop violating the law, they're reinspected maybe some years later and they're found to be violating the law again," he added.

The jurors also recommended that construction workers take mandatory training courses on trench and excavation safety, and that workers have the right to refuse unsafe work without reprisal.