Employer Fined $165,000 After Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

An employer was fined $165,000 after workers were overcome by carbon monoxide gas in a subway tunnel.

A crew, consisting of seven workers and a foreman, was removing man-made mineral-fibre material to permit access to the concrete for repair. Some of their equipment was on a flatbed subway car, and it included a gasoline-fuelled generator and two gasoline-fuelled power washers.

A few hours after the work started, the foreman notified transit control that workers had collapsed. A few minutes after the foreman’s initial call, fire services were notified of the situation and arrived at the scene with emergency medical services. The workers were rescued and brought out of the tunnel.

Emergency workers reported carbon monoxide readings of over 1000 ppm (parts per million) when they first arrived. A little while later, they reported readings of approximately 550 to 580 ppm. These readings indicated the workers had been exposed to carbon monoxide concentrations that were 40 times the current eight-hour average occupational exposure limit, which is 25 ppm, and 10 times the short-term exposure limit, which is 100 ppm.

A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the employer violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act when it failed to ensure that no internal combustion engine was operated in a building or other enclosed structure unless the exhaust gases and fumes from the engine were discharged directly outside. Charges against a general superintendent are scheduled to be heard early this year.