Construction Worker Killed by Falling Fencing Material

Many people in the safety business don’t like the word accident, because it suggests nothing could have been done to prevent the situation. They find the term “freak accident” even more irritating, because it brings another element such as fate or “bad karma” into the mix. That said, a pretty unusual um… incident occurred at a Toronto area high-rise construction site earlier this year.

Witnesses said a worker was killed instantly when a piece of safety fencing fell from atop a condominium tower and struck him on the head – just seconds after a wind gust had blown his hardhat off.

One Toronto newspaper reported that workers had earlier expressed concern that the safety fencing – designed to keep workers from falling – had not been installed properly and was loose.