Inquest into deadly 2009 Christmas Eve scaffolding collapse to begin Monday

An inquest into a scaffolding collapse in Toronto that left four construction workers dead more than a decade ago on Christmas Eve is set to get underway on Monday.

Fayzullo Fazilov, 31, Alexsandrs Bondarevs, 24, Vladimir Korostin, 40, and Aleksey Blumberg, 38, died when the swing stage they were on collapsed without warning on Dec. 24, 2009.

The men, who had all recently immigrated from Eastern Europe and worked for Metron Construction, were doing balcony repairs on a west-end high-rise when they plummeted 13 floors to the ground.

The case drew widespread media attention and led to extensive litigation and criminal charges in the years that followed. As a result, the lawyer representing the coroner in the inquest says it's unlikely new evidence will emerge from the process.

Instead, he says, it will be largely be an opportunity for the jury to consider the changes made since the tragedy and what more might need to be done.

"The jury is going to hear about the circumstances of this tragic incident. But the focus really will be on the government's response, including the substantial changes to health and safety regulations in Ontario that have been implemented since," said coroner's counsel Jai Dhar.

"And then on the basis of that the jury can make recommendations about any further changes that they think could prevent similar tragedies from happening again."

The inquest is expected to hear from three witnesses, including an engineer who will explain why the swing stage failed, as well as a current and former director at the provincial labour ministry. 

The Ministry of Labour, a trades council, as well as construction company tied to the deaths have standing at the inquest and their lawyers will be able to question the witnesses.

A victim impact statement will also be read by one of the families of the men killed.

Enzo Garritano, president of the Infrastructure Health and Safety Association, a partner organization of the provincial government, told CBC News the case was a turning point in that it caused a "total review of the health and safety system in Ontario," spurring changes to scaffolding, swing stages and other such equipment, inspection, training and beyond.

But more remains to be done, he said.

According to Ontario's Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development, 17 people died in workplace incidents at construction sites in 2009. In 2021, there were 22 reported fatalities. 

"We have to continue to look at those risks, the higher risks, look at the data ... and if the current regulations and the current practices aren't working, what is it that we can do to make it better," Garritano said.