A roofer was one panel away from finishing a steel roof. He was clipped to his safety line, doing everything the way he had been taught. The problem was the line. It was too short to reach where the last panel had to go.
So he unclipped. He stepped over a steel panel, lost his balance, and fell about 22 feet to the ground.
What Happened
On August 1, 2023, a worker employed by Moffat Bros. Roofing Ltd. was completing a steel roof replacement at a project at 5325 County Road 10 near Port Hope, Ontario. He was tied off to a safety line tether. But the tether was not long enough to reach the position where the final roof panel needed to be installed.
To finish the work, he unclipped from the line. Now he was up on a steel roof with nothing connecting him to an anchor. While stepping over a steel panel, he lost his balance and fell approximately 22 feet to the ground, sustaining critical injuries.
Fall protection equipment was available on site. At the moment of the fall, none of it was in use. The tether that was supposed to protect him could not reach the work, and the plan had no answer for that gap. So the worker made the only move that let him finish the panel, and it nearly cost him his life.
What the Law Says
Moffat Bros. Roofing was charged under section 25(1)(c) of the OHSA and section 26.1(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 (Construction Projects).
Section 26 sets the trigger: once a worker may be exposed to falling more than 3 metres, the fall protection sections apply. Section 26.1(1) then requires a guardrail system. Section 26.1(2) applies only where a guardrail system is not practicable, and it ranks the alternatives, starting with a travel restraint system. The tether on this roof was that first-ranked alternative. Section 25(1)(c) puts the duty on the employer to ensure the prescribed measures are carried out.
Basically, what this means is simple: at 22 feet, fall protection is not optional and it is not a nice-to-have. It has to actually protect the worker across every part of the job, including the last panel in the far corner. A tether that reaches most of the roof but not the finish line is not a working fall protection system. It is a system with a hole in it, and the worker fell through that hole.
Here is the lesson the court's decision drives home: a tether that does not reach the work is a planning failure, not a worker's mistake. The employer chose the anchor points, the line, and the length. When the equipment cannot cover the task, the person on the roof is left to improvise, and improvising at height is how people fall.
Moffat Bros. Roofing pleaded guilty in the Provincial Offences Court in Cobourg and was convicted on June 3, 2026. The company was fined $100,000 plus the 25 percent victim fine surcharge.
Three Things This Case Teaches Ontario Contractors
- Plan fall protection for the last panel, not the easy middle. Most fall plans cover the bulk of the roof and quietly ignore the corners, edges, and final pieces where anchors run out and tethers fall short. Those are exactly the spots where workers unclip. Map anchor locations and tether reach against every position on the roof before the crew goes up, and solve the reach problem before it becomes a choice made at height.
- Equipment on site is not equipment in use. The gear was there. It still ended with a 22-foot fall. Having harnesses and lines in the truck means nothing if the system does not fit the work. Confirm that what is available actually reaches and anchors for the specific task, every task.
- When a worker has to unclip to finish, your plan already failed. Treat unclipping as a red flag, not a workaround. If completing the job requires disconnecting from the only thing keeping a worker off the ground, stop and redesign the setup: a longer engineered line, a repositioned anchor, a guardrail, or a different sequence.
Before your next steel roof or re-roof, stand at the far corner in your mind and ask: can a tied-off worker reach that final panel without ever unclipping. Ask your crew the same thing out loud. What they tell you about the corners is where your next fall is waiting.