Scalded in a Pit — Why Every Excavation Needs a Ladder Inside It

Scalded in a Pit — When There's No Way Out Fast Enough

Let's talk about what happened at 561 Hespeler Road in Cambridge on July 11, 2023. Fer-Pal Construction Ltd. was contracted by the City of Cambridge to rehabilitate a 16-inch water main by lining it with resin cured by circulating hot water — water heated to approximately 65 to 70 degrees Celsius by a boiler truck at surface. During the final stage of the relining process, a worker climbed into an access excavation using wooden shoring and began removing a hose from a connection point. During this work, the worker was exposed to the hot circulating water. Sixty-five-degree water causes serious scalding injuries almost instantly. The worker urgently needed to get out of that pit. But the ladder was not inside the excavation. It had been supplied at grade — positioned at the edge of the pit at surface level — but it was not installed inside the pit where the worker was. The worker attempted to exit but fell back in before managing to climb out on a second attempt. The delayed egress contributed directly to the severity of the injury. A Ministry investigation found that supervisor Antonio Visconti had responsibility for the work in that excavation and that Fer-Pal as a whole had failed to ensure that adequate means of entry and exit were in place inside the pit before the worker entered it. Guilty pleas were entered in Kitchener Provincial Offences Court. Fer-Pal was fined $140,000 and the supervisor was fined $7,000, each with a 25% victim fine surcharge.

What the Law Requires

Section 71 of Ontario Regulation 213/91 requires that workers in excavations have an adequate means of entry and exit. A ladder placed at grade level — outside the pit — does not satisfy that requirement when a worker is working inside the excavation. The ladder must be accessible from inside the pit, where the worker actually is. Basically, what this means is simple: if a worker is in an excavation, the way out must be inside the excavation with them — not sitting on the ground at the edge above. In an emergency, a worker does not have time to climb a wall of soil to reach a ladder at grade. Section 25(1)(c) of the OHSA requires employers to ensure that all prescribed measures and procedures are carried out. Section 27(1)(a) places the same obligation on supervisors for the work under their direct oversight. In this case, both the company and the supervisor failed. A ladder was present on site. It was simply not installed where it needed to be. In the court's view, this was not a complex failure to diagnose — it was a fundamental omission of the most basic egress requirement. The combined $147,000 in fines reflects that placing a worker inside an excavation involving a hot-energy source without ensuring rapid egress is exactly the kind of foreseeable hazard that the regulation is designed to prevent.

What Supervisors Must Do

• Before any worker enters an excavation, confirm that a ladder or other approved means of egress is installed inside the excavation — not just present on site
• When hazardous energy (hot water, steam, pressurized lines, chemicals) is present in or near the excavation, ensure egress is confirmed and tested before work begins
• Walk the excavation before entry and ask: 'If something went wrong right now, how does this worker get out — and can they do it in seconds, not minutes?'
• Do not allow work to begin in the excavation if the egress means is not installed inside the pit; installation of the ladder is a precondition, not a follow-up task
• Keep asking: 'Is the ladder inside the pit, not just near it — and can the worker reach it immediately from their work position?'

What Employers Must Do

• Incorporate excavation egress verification into your pre-task inspection checklist; the ladder must be confirmed inside the excavation before any worker descends
• For work involving hot-water systems, pressurized lines, or other energy sources adjacent to an excavation, add a specific energy-source hazard review to the pre-entry checklist
• Train supervisors on Section 71, O. Reg. 213/91 and conduct periodic site audits to verify that egress equipment is properly installed on all active excavation projects
• Develop written procedures for water main and utility rehabilitation work that include a mandatory pre-entry egress check as a non-negotiable stop point
• Ensure that all excavation equipment lists include ladder or egress equipment as a required item — its presence on site is not sufficient; it must be correctly installed
• Review all excavation-related incidents and near-misses for egress adequacy; if a worker has ever struggled to exit a pit quickly, that is a warning that egress requirements are not being met

How to Use This Case in Your Workplace

This case is a valuable safety conversation starter. Use it during toolbox talks before any excavation work involving utility connections or hot/pressurized systems, monthly safety meetings for construction supervisors working on underground infrastructure, and pre-task hazard assessment training. Walk your team through the site and ask: 'Is the ladder inside this pit right now — not leaning against the edge, but inside it?' 'If a worker was scalded or injured at the bottom of this excavation, how fast could they exit without anyone's help?' 'Does our pre-entry checklist specifically require confirmation that egress equipment is installed inside the excavation before we allow descent?' This case reinforces a simple message: emergency egress from an excavation is not a nice-to-have — it is a legal requirement that must be confirmed before a single worker goes underground.