A crew showed up on a December morning to shingle a single-storey house. The ground was frozen and uneven. Someone leaned a ladder against the roof and started climbing.
The ladder was not secured at the top. It was not secured at the bottom. There was no fall protection on the worker and none installed on the roof. As he stepped off the ladder onto the roof, the ladder twisted under him and he fell.
What Happened
On December 22, 2023, workers employed by Reilly's Roofing Ltd. were at a residential construction project at 362 Fergus Street North in Mount Forest, Ontario, installing shingles on a single-storey home. The company is based in Georgian Bluffs.
To get onto the roof, a worker climbed a ladder that had been set up on frozen, uneven ground. The ladder was not tied off or otherwise secured at either the top or the bottom. The worker was not wearing fall protection, and there was no fall protection system installed on the structure.
As he stepped from the ladder onto the roof, the ladder twisted. He fell approximately 11 feet to the ground and sustained critical injuries. Eleven feet does not sound far. Onto frozen ground, off a ladder that was never going to hold its position, it was more than enough to critically injure a person.
What the Law Says
Reilly's Roofing Ltd. was charged under section 25(1)(c) of the OHSA and section 26.1(2) of Ontario Regulation 213/91 (Construction Projects). The director, Adam Reilly, was charged under section 32(a) of the OHSA.
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, and section 26.1(2) applies only where a guardrail system is not practicable, ranking the alternatives with a travel restraint system first. Here there was no guardrail and no ranked alternative in use at all. Section 25(1)(c) puts the duty on the employer to ensure the prescribed measures are carried out. Section 32(a) requires every director and officer of a corporation to take all reasonable care to ensure the corporation complies with the Act and its regulations.
Basically, what this means is simple: the company had to make sure the ladder was secured and the worker was protected, and it did neither. And the law did not stop at the company. Section 32(a) reaches the individual director personally. A director cannot hide behind the corporation when the corporation cuts corners. If you have the authority to make the company comply, you carry a personal legal duty to actually do it.
Reilly's Roofing and Adam Reilly pleaded guilty in the Provincial Offences Court in Guelph and were convicted on June 3, 2026. The company was fined $130,000 and Adam Reilly was fined $15,000 personally, for a total of $145,000, plus the 25 percent victim fine surcharge on each. The director's fine came out of his own name, not the company's account.
Three Things This Case Teaches Ontario Employers
- Secure the ladder at both ends, every single time. A ladder that is not tied off at the top and stabilized at the bottom is a fall waiting for a reason. Frozen, uneven, sloped, or soft ground removes the little friction that was holding it. Make tying off top and bottom, and setting on firm level footing, a non-negotiable before anyone climbs.
- The transition from ladder to roof is a fall zone, so protect it. People fall stepping off the ladder onto the roof more than almost anywhere else. That moment needs a secured ladder, a fall protection system on the structure, or both. Do not treat access as the harmless part of the job.
- Directors carry personal liability, so lead like it. Adam Reilly did not fall off the ladder, but he was fined in his own name because section 32(a) makes directors responsible for the corporation's compliance. If you are a director or officer, your due diligence has to be real and documented: training in place, procedures enforced, sites checked. A signature on a policy is not the same as taking reasonable care.
Before your next residential job, look at how your crews get onto the roof. Ask them directly: is the ladder tied off at the top and stable at the bottom, on this frozen ground, right now. Then ask yourself, as the person whose name is on the corporation, whether you could prove you took every reasonable step. What you cannot prove is exactly where a director's personal fine comes from.