A recent coroner’s report recommends better enforcement of mandatory working at heights training and adding a regulatory requirement for supervisor working at heights training.  
 
The first annual report of Ontario’s Construction Death Review (CDR) Committee led by Ontario’s Chief Coroner investigated the 131 falls from heights deaths occurring between 2009-2024. Falls from heights represented more than 40 per cent of all fatalities on Ontario construction sites during this period. Although much of the focus of the report was on the 26 construction workers killed between 2017-2023. 
 
In March 2024 the Ontario government amended the Coroners Act replacing mandatory public coroners’ inquests for all construction-related deaths with mandatory annual coroner-led reviews of these deaths.
 
“At its core, the new Construction Death Review process is about looking into these tragedies together to find answers for families and provide more systemwide recommendations to enhance the safety of construction workers,” explained Dr. Dirk Huyer, Lead Coroner, CDR and Chief Coroner of Ontario.
 
The CDR Committee offered seven recommendations to the Ontario government which, the report states, “are practical, reasonable, and implementable”, including:
 

• Strengthening compliance with working at heights (WAH) training and fall protection regulatory obligations
• Enhancing supervision for workers working at heights
• Mandating WAH training for supervisors to support competency requirements
• Developing and distributing information to small construction businesses and homeowners regarding health and safety obligations 
• Encouraging WAH training providers to incorporate real-life stories into training
• Approving additional resources and/or funding to support the implementation of these recommendations.

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Strengthening compliance with WAH training

Regulations in Ontario require employers to ensure workers in their employ on construction projects who may use fall protection equipment complete a WAH training program before starting work. This training must be approved by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development’s (MLITSD) Chief Prevention Officer (CPO). And for continued compliance, employers must ensure workers they employ complete an approved WAH refresher program every three years.
 
Made law in 2015, the CDR Committee report credited this training with a substantive decrease in deaths associated with falls from heights, calling it “a very positive and very welcome trend.”
 
Significantly, of the 26 workers killed between 2017 and 2023, almost one in four had not received mandatory working at heights training. Consider Gerhard (George) Wall who fell 25 feet on April 6, 2022, while working alongside his company co-owner installing metal shingles on a single-family home. The investigation found no evidence Mr. Wall had completed general or site-specific WAH training or that fall protection was being used. Equally troubling, the constructor had a pattern of non-compliance regarding fall protection and general health and safety protocols.

Strengthening compliance with WAH Refresher

Another point highlighted in the report is the CDR Committee’s belief “effective health and safety training should go beyond minimum standards: it should be interactive, scenario-based, and reinforced regularly.” 
 
For instance, the report suggested Jose Ibarra might be alive today had he received “effective” up-to-date training and competent supervision. The 52-year-old fell to his death on May 8, 2021, while working on a Toronto high-rise construction project. Mr. Ibarra, following the actions of his supervisor, unhooked his fall protection equipment to climb over a wall to access a work platform. He lost his footing and fell into a guardrail which gave way leading to a fall of 16 feet to a concrete floor below. 
 
According to the report, this tragedy “shows how modeled behavior from supervisors may directly influence worker decisions, especially in the absence of clear guidance or intervention.” The investigation into Mr. Ibarra’s death found his working at heights training certificate had expired and he had not received any site-specific orientation. It was also determined no job hazard analysis was completed to identify and control potential hazards at the site, and that the guardrail in question was overloaded.
 
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Mandating WAH training for supervisors

Further the report emphasized the critical role supervisors must play in  protecting workers. In fact, employers and supervisors have the most significant obligations by law to protect workers. 
 
Employers are already required to ensure supervisors complete basic occupational health and safety awareness training (Ontario Regulation 297/13). This training must be completed within one week of performing work as a supervisor and must address a wide range of topics, including their obligations to protect workers and how to recognize, assess and control workplace hazards.
 
A key recommendation of the CDR Committee is for the government to consider amending Ontario Regulation 297/13 to require working at heights training to be completed by a supervisor who may supervise a worker using a method of fall protection. In so doing this amendment would support the requirement that a supervisor be a “competent person” under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA).
 
A competent person, as defined in the OHSA, is:

• qualified because of knowledge, training and experience to organize the work and its performance,
• familiar with the OHSA and Regulations that apply to the work, and
• knowledgeable about any potential or actual danger to health or safety in the workplace.

The report observes, “Only seven supervisors involved with the 26 deaths had documented working at heights training. There are practical reasons for a site supervisor ensuring safe practice by all subtrades and an employer supervisor on site where people are working at heights to have training, including a basic understanding of when fall protection is required and how it works.”

WHSC can help 

As Ontario’s only government-designated occupational health and safety training centre, WHSC is a leading provider of CPO-approved WAH training and WAH refresher training. Our programs are always delivered by a WHSC-qualified instructor to ensure critical learning is achieved. This includes:

• the hazards of WAH, legal rights and duties of all workplace parties, along with relevant regulations governing fall hazards and fall protection equipment,
• case studies on the unacceptable tragedies that happen when the law is ignored,
• the safe use, inspection, limitations and storage for travel restraint, fall restricting, fall arrest systems, and ladders,
• the key components of a fall rescue plan and emergency procedures, and
• hands-on learning in the use of fall prevention equipment and systems.

WHSC is also a leading provider of mandatory and essential Supervisor Health & Safety Training that meets and exceeds training standards outlined in O. Reg. 297/13.
 
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Access related resources
Construction Death Review Committee Falls from Heights 2025 Report
WHSC working at heights resources   
Standardized working at heights training improves safety, study
Supervisor competence and support critical for safer, healthier workplaces
Occupational Health and Safety Awareness and Training Regulation (O. Reg. 297/13).

Need more information? 
Contact a WHSC Training Services Representative in your area.
Email: contactus@whsc.on.ca
Visit: whsc.on.ca
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