"All We Can Hope for as a Family is Workplace Safety"

"All we can hope for as a family is workplace safety." So said the aunt of a 24-year-old man killed in Toronto this week when a drilling rig fell onto his front-end loader on a construction site.

Kyle Knox's body was trapped within the cab of his loader for almost a day; he was pronounced dead at the scene. Five other male workers were hurt by the rig which also fell on top of a backhoe; they were all hospitalized with minor to major injuries.

Kyle's sister, Kendall Knox, has told the media that Kyle had saved someone else's life in a construction accident. Next week, Kyle was to take the test to become a fully licensed crane operator, after 5 years of apprenticeships.

The media has reported that all day yesterday construction workers visited the scene with their heads hung low and at least one worker left a bouquet of flowers. The site of the tragedy is construction for a new subway station, next to York University.

The accident has, rightly so, drawn a lot of attention and calls for action. Kyle's employer, Anchor Shoring & Caissons Ltd. has issued a release saying they are willing to help the Ministry of Labour investigate the accident.

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is calling for a full criminal investigation. "“Every worker who is killed at work deserves to have their death investigated through the lens of C-45 and the Criminal Code," OFL president Sid Ryan said yesterday. "Their family deserves to know the police have... looked at criminal negligence by the employer as a possible cause."

My own son, David, died at age 18 a decade ago in an accident at his workplace. In that case, the company was one of the first employers in Ontario to ever be charged with criminal negligence as it pertains to safety.

I want the very best to be done for Kyle Knox's family, his coworkers, and all young workers across Ontario and beyond. Considering that construction will continue at the spot of Kyle's death until 2015, iron-tight ways to make no further accidents possible must be found - and quickly.

As National Post columnist Peter Kuitenbrouwer wrote this week, worker safety is more important than the rush for York subway.