Ontario worker dies after being struck by two vehicles

TORONTO (Canadian OH&S News)

Ontario’s Ministry of Labour (MoL) and the Toronto Police Service (TPS) are investigating a bizarre incident in which a worker was killed after he was hit by a car and then by a truck at a workplace in Toronto.

At about 12:30 on December 14, TPS officers responded to a call related to a single motor vehicle collision at Fiera Foods in north Toronto, says Constable Tony Vella, a TPS spokesman. A police investigation found that a 36-year-old man was exiting the company’s parking lot at the same time a 69-year-old worker was walking through the lot. The worker was struck by the vehicle and knocked to the ground, Vella reports. The driver then fled the scene.

While on the ground, the worker was struck a second time by a reversing tractor-trailer. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The same day, police arrested Marlon Layugan of Toronto. Vella says he was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, failing to stop at the scene of an accident causing bodily harm or death, and criminal negligence causing death.

Matt Blajer, an MoL spokesman, tells COHSN that the deceased worker was a company security guard who had exited the building on a break. A preliminary MoL investigation reveals that the security guard was struck in the loading dock area of the company and dragged for about 100 metres, Blajer says, adding that the fatality appears to have occurred at Marmora Freezing Corp.

“The investigation revealed that the deceased was struck by a car prior to being struck by the truck. As a result of this information, Toronto Police were called and took over the investigation,” Blajer says. “At this point, it’s a traffic fatality and once they are done, we will step in to check” for any possible violations to the Occupational Health and Safety Act, he adds.