TTC failed to meet safety standards at site of fatal accident

Thestar.com
May 22, 2018
Ben Spurr

The TTC failed to provide proper training to workers prior to a fatal accident at one of its facilities last fall, and lighting at the site didn’t meet safety standards, according to an ongoing provincial investigation.

Tom Dedes, a 50-year-old track maintenance worker, was critically injured when he was struck by a work car and pinned against a pickup truck in the yard of the TTC’s McCowan Carhouse just after 2 a.m. on Oct. 1, 2017. According to the TTC, he was off-loading equipment from the truck onto the work car when the car began to move and he was struck by its tail swing. He died in hospital eight days later.

The Ontario Ministry of Labour is investigating. While the probe is not yet complete and the ministry has not assigned any responsibility for the incident, copies of two ministry field visit reports obtained by the Star show inspectors determined some conditions at the McCowan yard fell short of provincial safety standards.

In an emailed statement, TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said the transit agency was “unable to respond to specific questions at this time” because the incident is still under investigation.

But Ross said the TTC was “aware of the Ministry of Labour’s findings to date and have complied with any directions in a timely manner. The TTC is fully committed to a safe work environment for all of its workers.”

The TTC is also conducting its own investigation into what happened.

According to a ministry report dated March 16, 2018, a provincial inspector determined that “at the time of the incident, information and instruction had not been provided to workers working close to work cars travelling on curved tracks” like the one where Dedes was struck.

The report also stated a “line of sight assessment” conducted by inspectors at the site indicated “there are considerable barriers with respect to operators/engineers (sic) ability to see around and behind the vehicle identified as a work car.”

Occupational Health and Safety Act regulations require employers to erect barriers or warning signs at locations where vehicle traffic may endanger worker safety.

The report said the TTC painted yellow lines to mark a safe zone around the curved track. Ross confirmed the safety lines were painted after the incident, and weren’t in place when Dedes was killed.
According to a separate field report dated Nov. 10, 2017, inspectors measured lighting levels at the yard three days after Dedes’s accident.

Ministry guidelines dictate that for sites like the McCowan yard, there should be a minimum lighting level of between 20 and 30 lux, a unit of measurement used to quantify illuminance. But readings the inspectors took found an average of just 8.3 lux.

The lighting “did not meet recommended levels for basic safety given the potential hazards, activity level, and physical environment,” the report concluded.

At the time of his death, Dedes had worked for the TTC for 18 years. His family says the ministry reports raise troubling questions about whether the transit agency did enough to ensure his safety.

In an interview, his sister-in-law Joanne Dedes asked why the transit agency hadn’t painted safety lines around the tracks until after the incident.

“How come a life had to be lost to do that? Why couldn’t it be done beforehand?” she said.

She also wondered if the poor lighting might have been a factor. “If there was not enough lighting, how would people be noticed on the platform?”

Seven months after Tom’s death, Joanne said the family is still struggling, especially her husband, George.

“My husband is not himself anymore. I kind of tell him I want the old George back. He’s just kind of mad at the world, ’cause that was his only brother that he had, he had no other siblings,” she said.

Joanne said Tom’s mother has also taken his death very hard.

“To watch an elderly woman at the age of 80 bury her son -- I don’t wish it upon anybody else.”

As a result of the inspections, the ministry issued orders to the TTC to create a plan for a minimum standard of safe lighting, and to provide “information, instruction, and supervision” to employees working near curved tracks.

In an email, a Ministry of Labour spokesperson confirmed the TTC had complied with those orders, but otherwise declined to discuss details of the investigation on the grounds that it was ongoing.

In his email, Ross said training that TTC workers receive includes rule book training, recertification and on-the-job instruction and counselling.

He said workers are specifically instructed that while at track level they must “be aware of their surroundings at all times,” “be aware that trains/workcars can move at any time,” and “avoid standing or being in nonclearance areas around the tracks.”

The TTC’s largest workers’ union declined to answer specific questions about the ministry investigation.

“Our thoughts continue to be with Tom Dedes’s family, friends and co-workers,” Kevin Morton, secretary-treasurer of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, said in a statement.

“As part of this ongoing investigation, our union is working together with all involved parties. We’re confident the investigation will lead to recommendations that will enhance safety for our members -- and help ensure such a tragedy does not happen again.”

The ministry has up to one year after an incident to lay charges if an investigation determines an employer has violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act.